


Ivy Potter and the Death Tournament

by RomanceSucker42



Series: Ivy Potter [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Evil Albus Dumbledore, F/M, Female Harry, Girl! Harry, Hermione Granger Bashing, Hogwarts Fourth Year, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Near Death Experiences, Older Man/Younger Woman, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Powerful Harry, Ron Weasley Bashing, Smart Harry Potter, Triwizard Tournament, Weasley Family Bashing (Harry Potter), always a girl harry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:28:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 28,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29594181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RomanceSucker42/pseuds/RomanceSucker42
Summary: Ivy's life changed drastically all due to one detention. Just because she didn't have the ability to buy new clothes before the start of term, she is faced with a month of detention for mouthing off to one Severus Snape when he commented on it. That one change sent both of their lives upside down.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Severus Snape, Severus Snape/Female Harry Potter
Series: Ivy Potter [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2174214
Comments: 18
Kudos: 110





	Ivy Potter and the Death Tournament

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Harry Potter. This is the first in my Ivy Potter series where each installment will be one of the Hogwarts Years. This one is shorter as it starts a little ways into 4th year. Please note that Ivy is fourteen in this fic and will be in a relationship with an older man. I hope you like it.

Never in her entire life did she think she would be grateful for a detention. She was currently scrubbing cauldrons in the dungeon with Snape sitting at his desk lathering the essays he was correcting with red ink. She really wasn’t sure what had possessed her, but she had snarked at him in the middle of Potions causing her to have detention for the next month. She blamed temporary insanity due to stress. It was the Potion class right after the Champions were named. She and Ron had had a huge fight which led to them barely staying within the same room as each other let alone talking to each other. Hermione, not wanting to get in the middle, wasn’t talking to either of them, though she was more likely to sit next to Ron then she was to sit next to Ivy. Not that Ivy blamed her. She was terrible company right now. 

In that fateful potions class, Ivy had decided to sit with Neville for the class, which had inevitably led to the cauldron melting and Snape going ballistic on them. Instead of just taking the doled out punishment, Ivy snarked back at him and had half shouted at Snape in the process. She had been angry about everything still and didn’t think before she spoke which resulted in the detentions. She was grateful for it now, though, because it gave her an excuse to be out of the Tower and do something constructive with her anger. She may have done a lot of cleaning at the Dursleys, but she found she missed it during the school year and found it calming.

It was now two weeks into the punishment and she couldn’t be glader for the detention. She took her anger out on the pots by scrubbing them viciously and thoroughly. The only ones who were talking to her were Neville and Fleur. She was very glad for Neville’s friendship, though she was still keeping her distance so Neville wouldn’t be ostracized too. She was hiding from Fleur, though. For some reason, the French champion had decided to take pity on her and had been trying to corner her to take her shopping. Ivy thinks she heard her say something about a makeover, but Ivy fled before Fleur could explain what that entailed. Snape had been strangely really nice through this whole thing, though. Well, nice might be a bit of a strong word. He hasn’t changed, which Ivy thinks she appreciated more. Over the last two weeks, they had snarked at each other during detention, sometimes even asking each other little benign questions about the other. Ivy, for her part, had even volunteered some information to him about the Dursleys that she had never told anyone. In a way, in a very short amount of time, Snape had become a friend of sorts and a strange kind of confidante. The pot she had been cleaning had been clean for the last five minutes, but she was lost in thought and her thoughts made her angry, so she just kept scrubbing.

“I do believe that Cauldon is clean, Miss Potter.” Snape’s voice had startled her out of her thoughts, making her pause in her cleaning. She looked down at the pot and sighed.

“Yes, I suppose it is.” She said sullenly. They didn’t speak again until she was done cleaning and had been absently polishing what she had already cleaned for the fourth time.

“Is there a reason you are polishing those utensils for the fourth time?” His voice startled her again and she looked up that time to find him looking at her expectantly. She sighed and put down the stirring the rod she had been rubbing absently. Honestly, she was suddenly exhausted. She hadn’t had a decent night sleep in weeks and she was feeling it now. Anger and stubbornness had been what was driving her to get up in the morning, but now that her anger had subsided, she was just feeling exhausted.

“Sorry Sir.” was all she said, but something must have been in her expression because he stood up and walked closer to her with an expression she had never seen on him before. Was that- concern? She must have looked worse than she thought.

“Miss Potter, are you alright?” he asked cautiously, making her snort and rub her eyes tiredly. It had to be past midnight at this point, but she still had no desire or plan to go back to the Tower tonight, so it didn’t really matter to her. After this, she was planning on sleeping in the library again like she had for the past week. Her snort had made him raise an eyebrow in question.

“No. No, I am not alright. But it doesn’t matter, because anything I say will just be ignored or posted in the paper with some ridiculous embellishment because Merlin forbid that anything I do should be kept private! Merlin forbid I am not OK like any other sane human being who is being forced to compete in a deadly competition that everyone else thinks of as a game! But No! Apparently, I’m not human, but I am an attention seeking whore who is out to steal other people’s fame and fortune. Like this was a choice!” Part of her was horrified that she was ranting and being sarcastic to her most hated professor, but she didn’t have anyone else to be sharp and sarcastic to. She deeply appreciated Neville, but she always felt like she was taking out her frustrations on him and that was the last thing she wanted to do to the poor boy. Snape, on the other hand, she knew could take it and deal it right back, so her horror at doing this to a professor had taken a back seat. 

For some reason, though, her rant had led him to look even more concerned and he shepherded her into his office. This was a first, but she didn’t think too hard on it, she was frankly too tired to be surprised by it. He sat her down on his couch and got her some tea, which she took automatically. She stared into the tea cup while he dragged a chair over and sat down backwards on it. 

“What happened?” He asked frankly, making her look up from her tea. His no nonsense frankness almost made her smile in how different it was from his professor persona that every student usually saw. She realized in their snarking about half way through the first week that he was different then what he showed and he was letting her see more of that as the weeks progressed. Instead of smiling, though, she levelled a glare at him.

“You mean aside from everything?” He just raised an eyebrow at her. She sighed, letting some of her snarkiness go. “I have spent all of my free time in the library looking for a way out of this, but there isn’t one. Apparently, this is all very binding. And apparently it is ok to drag my name through the paper without my consent and I have no way to change that. And for some reason I can not shake Fleur. It’s infuriating.” She said exasperatedly. He nodded his head at her completely serious in listening to her troubles. 

“There is nothing to be done about the tournament, unfortunately, but maybe I could look into a solicitor for you for everything else?” Relief washed over her and she was quick to accept.

“Yes, please! I’m at my wits’ end. The papers have no right to say such things and I’m at a loss at what to do.”

“Yes, Minerva has been telling me that you haven’t been sleeping in the Tower this past week.” He gave her a scrutinizing look which she gave a sheepish look in return. 

“The library is more peaceful than the Tower these days.” was her answering reply. Snape nodded understanding again. They were silent for a moment before he broke it.

“As for Miss Delacour...well, the dungeons are always welcome to you if you wish a place to hide.” That got her to chuckle and nod her head in thanks. Tired, she put her tea cup down and leaned back on the couch. Between one moment and the next, she was out like a light. 

Waking up on her professor’s couch was a strange experience for her. A blanket had been placed over her during the night and a pillow under her head. If she was being honest, it was the best night sleep she had had in months. Smiling a little, she asked Dobby to bring her some clothes for the day, like she had been asking of him for the past week. As always, he was very happy to help her, even bringing her some food as well without her asking. Breakfast was almost over, so she happily sat and ate the food Dobby had brought her. She had finished and was just finishing folding the blanket and putting it back on the couch when Snape came back into the office.

“You’re up, good. I thought you were about to sleep the day away.” he sneered at her which she just smiled brightly back at him. He was very grouchy in the morning, she had noticed, so she didn’t take offence to it.

“Good morning, Professor. Thank you for last night, I don’t remember sleeping so well in some time. I best be off, I think.” Impulsively, she kissed his cheek on the way out. “I’ll see you tonight, Professor.” and with that, she went about her day in a very bright mood. Not even Malfoy or Ron dampened her spirits. 

She served out the rest of her detention that month in a similar fashion. They never brought up when she slept in his office or the kiss the morning after, but they did continue to talk during the detentions. The dungeons had become her haven in that time and even when she didn’t need to be there for detention, Severus still found her cleaning the cauldrons every night. She even went down there after the first task. She was still a little crispy around the edges, but under no circumstances did she want to be in the Tower at a party surrounded by people that had been spouting all term how awful she was. He looked up from his markings when he heard the door open, not expecting to see anyone tonight. 

She walked closer to him and stopped at his desk while he gave her a long searching look. “I wasn’t expecting you tonight.” He finally said when it became clear she wasn’t going to say anything first.

“I know.” Was all she said, but that seemed to be enough for him. He nodded his head and she started to the sink to clean.

“Ivy.” he said, making her turn to look at him surprised and questioning. She was barely passed his desk and fairly close to him, but he didn’t turn to look at her. He kept looking at the paper in front of him, though it didn’t look like he was reading it. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

The sincerity and relief she could hear made her eyes water a little. He was the only one to have said that to her and she was glad someone was genuinely relieved she, Ivy, was ok not Ivy Potter the girl-who-lived. She hadn’t seen Neville after the task and she hoped he would be just as happy that she was alive as Snape was. She had gone to the party, but the hypocrisy of everyone including Ron and Hermione had deeply upset her, so she left not long after and fled to the dungeons. Touched by his concern for her, but unable to speak due to the lump in her throat, she reached out and comfortably squeezed his arm before continuing to the dirty cauldrons. 

They didn’t speak while she was cleaning, like they usually do. She was rinsing the last of the cauldrons when he stood up and gently pulled her away from the sink. He looked into her face, deep concern on his own and gently wiped tears off of her face. She didn’t even know that she had been crying until she saw his hand come back wet. While cleaning, she finally had the chance to process what she had been feeling before, during, and after the task. How scared she had been while facing a dragon and how alone her housemates had made her feel the whole term just to turn around and suddenly praise her for her sudden victory. Her relief on fleeing before having to talk to Ron or Hermione that night. It all really crashed in on her and the lump in her throat had gotten bigger and more painful, but seeing Severus wipe a stray tear off of her face is what really broke the dam. She cries a lot more than people know, but she learned some time ago how to do so almost silently. This time, though, Severus pulled her into a protective embrace which just made her crying turn into torent sobs. Those she could never keep quiet well because her gasps for breath were frantic and audible. 

Her sadness made her want to rage against everything and at some point exclaimed “Fucking dragons! What were they thinking!?” but this didn’t deter him and Severus just pulled her a little tighter to him and let her cry some more. She calmed down maybe twenty minutes later but she made no move to release herself from his arms. She couldn’t smell very well, but what she could smell was very calming to her. Something like mint and a winter’s breeze was the smell, though she didn’t understand how he could smell like it either. When she was calm for several minutes, she muttered into his shoulder. “I don’t want to go back to the Tower tonight.” It was said quietly with the intent that he didn’t hear it, but it was hard not to hear it when it was the only sound in the dungeons. He pulled back and looked at her and she thought that was when he was going to chuck her out but instead he said. “OK.” He didn’t lead her to his office this time, but to his personal chambers and sat her down on his couch then went to fetch some tea. She didn’t wait for the tea and she didn’t think twice about it. She kicked off her shoes and curled up onto the couch. She was asleep in seconds, her last conscious thought was that the couch smelt like Snape a little. 

Ivy woke up the next morning to banging on the door. She jumped to her feet and had her wand in hand before she knew what was going on. She turned when she heard a clang and saw Severus emerge from a room just as sleep disorientated as she was. Clearly, he had just woken up as well and was surprised by the banging as she was. Seeing each other made them wake up some more, though, so they both put down their wands that they had turned onto each other for half a second. That’s when Ivy’s brain really started to catch up to what she was seeing. Severus slept shirtless and he was very well toned making her quickly look away before a blush came on. He saw her look away and disappeared into his room again before reappearing with a robe on and headed to the door, which was still being banged on. In that time, she bent down to retrieve the blanket that had fallen to the ground in her haste to stand and noticed that she was in her pajamas and clean. She didn’t remember putting them on or casting a cleaning charm on herself, but seeing as how she even had on her night bra, she figured he did a switching spell as well as a cleaning spell on her to make her more comfortable. 

She stood awkwardly in his sitting room watching while he opened the door to what it turned out to be McGonagall of all people looking a little frantic. “Severus” she said, pushing passed him into his rooms. Severus had blocked anyone’s view of her from the door, so even though she had walked in, she wouldn’t have seen her until she really came into the room. 

“By all means, please come in.” He said sarcastically. McGonagall waved off his sarcasm though, turning to him immediately without taking in the room while he shut the door behind her.

“There is no time for that. Ivy Potter hasn’t been seen since the task yesterday afternoon and she didn’t sleep in her dorm last night either.” 

“Minerva” Severus tried to interrupt her, looking vaguely guilty to Ivy’s eyes, but McGonagall plowed over him.

“And don’t say she is just being dramatic or that I am over reacting. That child did not seem well after the task and who would be? Bloody dragons.” She muttered darkly before continuing. “She also hasn’t been getting on with her year mates and if we don’t find her before first period I am telling Albus and the rest of the staff.” He was about to try to interrupt her again but she cut him off again. “And I don’t want to hear one word about leading a wild goose chase. If that is what it takes to find her, then so be it!” Severus definitely looked uncomfortable now so she cleared her throat to gain her professor’s attention. 

Upon hearing the noise, both of them turned to look at her. McGonagall’s eyebrows disappeared into her hair at the sight of her while Snape shifted on his feet looking vaguely nervous now. “Good morning, Professor. I apologize for raising such a fuss. No one has noticed my absence from the Tower before. You are correct, though. I wasn’t alright after the task and I have not been getting on with my housemates this year. Professor Snape let me crash on his couch so I wouldn’t have to deal with them last night.” She tried to be reassuring, but she didn’t know how well that succeeded because McGonagall was now looking a little shocked. Ivy looked to Snape, asking him if he knew what to do, but he just shrugged at her, unsure what to do as well. “Perhaps some tea would be a good idea. Professor, may I use your kitchen to get some tea?” Severus nodded and waved her in the direction of his kitchen, but that seemed to have shaken Minerva out of her shock. 

“That is quite alright, Miss Potter, that won’t be necessary. Now that I see you are quite alright, I think I will take my leave seeing as you are in quite capable hands right now. Excuse me.” And with that, she swept out the door, leaving Severus and Ivy to stare after her. 

“Did she just imply…” Ivy asked quite shocked and Snape nodded his head completely dazed and shocked as well. The weirdness of what just happened made Ivy start giggling uncontrollably. Severus joined moments later and they were both soon collapsed on the couch giggling. They both blamed the shock. When they calmed down, though, they both immediately dedicated their focus on getting ready for the day and not on each other. McGonagall’s implications were just a little more than what either knew how to handle, so they classically didn’t and quickly went about their day. 

It made Ivy think, though. She was fourteen, and Snape was thirty-four. McGonagall was one hell of a mother lion when it came to her Gryffindors, so if there was even a hint that one of them was doing something illegally or dangerously, she would be all over them and whoever they were doing that with. Meaning, if she and Snape were actually in a relationship, then it must not technically be illegal according to Wizard law. It was something she resolved to look up later. The law had really started to fascinate her to the point where she even got giddy when she found a loophole in one of the laws she read up on. 

The day didn’t get much better from there, though. After lunch, Ron and Hermione had managed to corner her in an abandoned classroom. “Ivy, there you are. Where have you been, mate?” Ron asked. He sounded normal, like he hadn’t completely turned his back on her the whole term so far. 

“You weren’t in the Tower this morning, we were really worried.” Hermione continued, sounding concerned, but the two of them acting normal just made her scoff at them. Their friendship had been broken for some time and the longer it went, Ivy wasn’t sure they would ever be ok again.

“Worried? What for? What gives you the right to be worried about me? And why now, huh? You two didn’t care before the task, what has changed now?” They both at least looked contrite, but what Ron said next really put the nail coffin of their friendship. If they did have one, it would never be the same and she would never trust them again either.

“Look mate, we are really tired of fighting, so we forgive you.” Ivy looked at them incredulously.

“Forgive me? What the fuck would you two need to forgive me for? You two are the ones who turned your backs on me and should be apologizing to me! I’m not apologizing for shit so you both can just go to hell!” She shouted at them before storming out of the room and off to her next class. She really thought the day was conspiring against her when later that same day, the Yule Ball was announced and that the champions were starting the Ball. 

Despite really wanting to clean something, she refrained from going down to the dungeons and camped out in the library that night. She learned that the Law on legal relationships hasn’t changed in the Wizarding World since the 1600s, meaning that fourteen was a completely legal age for a girl to have a romantic relationship with someone. She also learned that though it was frowned upon, it was not illegal for a professor-student relationship on the condition that the professor shows no bias to said student in class or in grades. So technically, if she and Snape ever did decide to have a relationship of that sort, it was completely legal. Though, he might have to have her work corrected by another teacher if there was too much fuss kicked up. 

She didn’t know where those thoughts were coming from, so she shoved this information aside for later. The awkwardness didn’t carry over to the next day, so Ivy went back to her evenings cleaning in the dungeons and their conversations continued, though both were careful never to bring up the incident with McGonagall again. Two weeks passed like this while Ivy’s days started to become weird and irritating because now everyone had started asking her to the dance. She caved one day when she realized that she didn’t know how to dress up like a girl and went to Fleur. How saying that she didn’t have a dress for the dance led to a six hour shopping spree in Hogsmeade on top of another four hours of hair and nails and a three hour crash course on makeup, she really had no idea. But, sadly, it did. 

She fled from Fleur’s clutches later that day to go down to the dungeons still dressed in tight jeans and a low shirt that somehow became part of her wardrobe that day with her hair still in a weird artful updo that looked like it was half falling down but actually wasn’t with her nails, for once, done. Severus was staring at a letter when she entered. The closer she got, the more she realized that he looked pale, troubled, and unnerved. “Are you alright?” She asked deeply concerned. She knew it was a stupid question to ask because clearly he wasn’t, but it was out of her mouth before she thought of asking something else.

“No, I’m not.” he replied in a flat voice. He looked up at her then, his eyes going a little wide at the sight of her. “Good Lord! What brought this on?” She blushed a little, forgetting how she looked for a second.

“You can thank Fleur. She did this.” He smirked at her suddenly.

“Ah, so Miss Delacour finally caught her prey?” 

“I didn’t know this would happen! I didn’t have a dress for the ball, so I asked for help.” Her indignation made him laugh at her plight. “You laugh now. You try going through what I had to go through today and see if you're laughing then.” His laughter made her feel warm, though, so she wasn’t actually upset at him for laughing at her troubles. His laughter turned into quiet chuckles as he shook his head at her and she smiled back at him. It didn’t take him long for his eyes to skitter back to the letter, though, and his face back to looking troubled again. She stepped around his desk and laid a comforting hand on his arm. “What is it? What is troubling you?” She asked softly, though he shook his head answering her.

“Not here.” He took the letter then led her to his private chambers again. Once they had tea, they both settled onto the couch. Severus, not having anything else to distract them with, sighed and finally started to explain what was troubling him. “Apparently...I have a son.” She raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment yet, waiting for more information. “The letter. It explained. I guess the department of law enforcement conducted a raid of a house in suspicion of illegal Dark Artifacts when they found him. He’s almost four.” His voice cracked a little on the last sentence. Severus looked very lost, though she could tell he was also very scared.

“What happened to his mother?” She asked quietly, trying to gently probe him for information so she could understand the whole picture.

“She’s dead. She committed suicide by Auror. Her name was Patricia Monro and she was a Potions Mistress experimenting with dark magic, according to the letter.” She looked at him curiously.

“You don’t remember her?” Ivy found that hard to believe, but she tried not to sound accusatory at any point. She really wanted to understand the whole story before she let her emotions interfere in her judgement. He sighed and rubbed his face impatiently.

“What I remember of that night was having one drink with a colleague that I had just met at a conference then waking up tied to a bed with an aphrodisiac forced down my throat and having no say in the rest of the night. And it didn’t matter if I pleaded or begged for her to stop, she never did. I passed out at some point and when I woke up again I was untied and she was gone so I left and shoved the entire experience to the back of my mind.” He got up then and started passing. Ivy, on the other hand, sat in horror in what had happened to him. It was a good thing this woman was dead or else Ivy would first take this woman to court to the inch of this woman’s life before killing her herself. It took several moments of deep breathing before she could get her blind rage under control. Severus was still pacing, but now he looked scared instead of angry and agitated. Ivy was hit with how young he is with that look. He usually looked so much older, but for once he looked younger than his thirty-four years. 

“What is his name?” She asked, breaking the silence. He stopped passing and slumped back onto the couch with her. 

“Simon. His name is Simon.” She smiled a little at that. 

“Simon. That’s a good name. When can you take custody of him?” He suddenly looked kind of shifty so she narrowed her eyes at him. “You are going to take custody of him, aren’t you?”

“Ivy, I’m the farthest thing from father material. That boy is much better off without me.” He looked defeated, but she just stared at him unbelieving what he was telling her.

“Severus, you can’t actually mean that. That boy needs his father.” He rubbed his face agitated. Neither really noticed that they were on a first name basis. 

“No, he doesn’t! You don’t understand!” he exclaimed at her standing back up and moved away from her in agitation. 

“Then explain it to me!” She shouted back at him. So much for not letting her emotions cloud her understanding. He stopped moving away, though he didn’t turn around to talk to her. Quieter, she said. “Your right, I really don’t understand. Please Severus, explain it to me.” Silence was met with that request. It was starting to become unbearable when he spoke again.

“My father wasn’t a good man, Ivy. I don’t know the first thing about being a father.” His shoulders were tense, but he still continued. “He was a muggle who resented my mother for getting pregnant with me. He was a mean drunk who was never sober after he found out mum was a witch. The only thing I learned from my father was how to take a beating and how to duck.” Hearing that, Ivy stalked forward and around him until she was facing him. She took his face in her hands and forced him to look at her.

“Now you listen to me Severus Snape. You are not a bad person and under no circumstances are you your father. No one really knows how to be a parent, not even our parents.” She stepped a little closer to him and stroked his face while he rested his hands on her waist. “That boy will be lucky to have you as his father, Severus.” She rested her head against his and they breathed together for a moment. 

“I don’t know if I can do this. What if I turn into him?” He whispered in the space between them. 

“You won’t and I won’t let you become him. You are not alone, Severus. You can do this.” He pulled her a little closer until she was wrapped in his arms. They stayed there for some time until Ivy pulled away from him and cleared her throat. “So, when can you go get him? Is he alright? You said he was almost four. Merlin, he must be scared half to death.” She stopped talking, hearing him huff a laugh. 

“Ivy, you must calm down. Right now, there is nothing we can do. It will be several days before we can take him, maybe a week at most. But I agree, I’ll check on him tomorrow. In the meantime, we have a lot to do to be prepared for him.” Neither paid attention to the fact it was ‘we’ not ‘I’ now. They both sat back down on the couch and spent the next several hours hashing out things like how Simon’s room should be set up and how he should be educated. As the night wore on, Ivy made herself comfortable in the rooms as they continued to bicker back and forth. At some point, while they were talking about their schedules for looking after him (Severus tried to tell Ivy that she didn’t have to, but she was adamant on helping in at least babysitting) they moved to lay down on Severus’s bed (after three hours with no end in sight, Ivy changed into her pajamas and took out her hair). 

The next morning found them in bed together with Severus curled around Ivy. Neither really remember how that happened. Honestly, they mostly remember bickering. Like they did with everything else that can be construed as intimate, they quickly separated and didn’t talk about it, just going about their day. Before she left this time, though, she made sure to discuss a few things first.

“You’re going to check on Simon today, right?” She asked, still concerned.

“Yes I am, I’m going after breakfast.” he replied, gathering up everything he needed for the day. He stopped and looked at her when she asked her next question.

“Um, will you go to the Yule Ball with me?” It was abrupt and came outta left field, but she had to ask. Silence accompanied that question which made her really nervous. Just by the look on his face, though, she knew what his answer was before he said anything.

“Ivy...I can’t. With Simon, I wasn’t planning on going at all. Besides, shouldn’t you ask someone your own age?” he fiddled with his sleeve when he asked that last question and she just sighed. 

“There is no one my age that I wanted to ask. I guess I’ll go with Neville, if he’s free. It’ll be nice going with a friend.” Her smile wasn’t very big this time, but it was no less real. “Have a good morning Professor.” with that, she left for the day. It was Sunday, so she mostly studied in the library, which was good because she was still really concerned about Simon. Belatedly, she realized that most people her age would be freaked out at how attached she was to a toddler she hadn’t even met already, but she expertly avoided thinking about that. At lunch she was able to catch Neville to ask him to the dance. After quickly clarifying that it would be as just friends, Neville agreed to go with her excitedly. 

By mid afternoon, she had finished her homework for the week and needed a break from looking through the same law books for the tenth time and the screeching egg so she was down in the dungeons cleaning cauldrons early. That is where Severus found her an hour later. She knew it was him, especially when he sighed slightly exasperatedly. He came up behind her and started rubbing her arms.

“Ivy, he’s fine. The paperwork is straightened out now. It went faster than I was originally told. They said I should be able to take him home tomorrow.” She stopped scrubbing and leaned back into him. 

“You saw him, he’s ok?” Severus nodded, wrapping his arms around her. “Are you ok?” She wanted to check. He sighed and tightened his hold a little. 

“No, but I think I will be.” She nodded in understanding and they stayed like that for a moment. They were interrupted by the sound of the door banging open, making them jump apart and turn around. At the door was McGonagall again, who, upon seeing them so close together, quickly came in and closed the door. She gave them a shrewd glare.

“Really, have neither of you heard of discretion? I expect better of both of you. Anyone could have walked in, at least put up a warning ward or something. Do you want your relationship to be plastered all over the papers?” she said exasperatedly. Severus suddenly straightened up, making both women look at him. He suddenly fished into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper with the Gringotts seal. 

“Speaking of the papers. It took a little digging, but I think if you go through Gringotts, you will have access to all the legal aid you want. I made an appointment for you next weekend with one of the goblins from the legal department.” He handed over the slip of paper to Ivy. She looked it over quickly and got really excited. He kept his word, like he always did.

“Really?! Oh, thank you! Thank you!” She half shouted excitedly, throwing herself at him to hug him tightly while he chuckled at her antics. She pulled back and impulsively kissed him on the lips. It wasn’t anything extravagant, but it was their first kiss. When she pulled back a moment later, her excitement had fled her and shock took over. She had kissed him. More importantly, she had really liked it and wanted to do that again. Was that even ok? They were trying really hard not to define their relationship or whatever it was and they had been dallying with possibly intimate territory, but both were just doing what felt comfortable to them and not thinking what it might look like. A kiss, though, was kind of difficult to forget about. Lucky for Ivy, Severus looked just as dazed as she was, so she made a quick retreat from there, completely ignoring the looks McGonagall was giving the two of us. “This-this will really help. Thank you. I’m gunna-just...yep. I’ll see you later Severus. Professor McGonagall.” She stuttered and stammered out before nodding at them and fleeing.

She didn’t go down to the dungeons that night or the next night. She knew he was going to be busy with Simon and she didn’t want to get in the way of their first night home together. Tuesday she met Simon, though it wasn’t the way she thought it would be. She had popped by the Tower to grab a textbook she would need for a class after lunch. When she headed down for lunch, she heard a noise on one of the stairs above her that sounded like whimpering. Concerned that a first year was hurt, she went to investigate. What she found was a very small person that, on closer inspection, was a very young child who was curled up in a ball on the stair landing with a cut on his head. She made some noise as she got closer so she wouldn’t frighten the child, who looked up at the noise. She knew exactly who he was when she saw him. His hair was pitch black and he had pale skin and fair features. His nose was a little big for his face, but it was the piercing deep almost black eyes that gave it away. This was Simon. 

She moved closer to him, but he scooted back making her crouch down lower to appear less threatening. “Shh, it’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you. My name is Ivy, what’s your name?” Recognition appeared in his eyes for a second before the fear and pain came back. Tentatively he replied.

“Simon.” She smiled at him and inched a little closer to him.

“It is very nice to meet you, Simon. That cut looks pretty nasty, can I take a look at it?” He looked really unsure, but he nodded his consent before she came and sat down closely directly in front of him. “How did this happen, kiddo?”

“Daddy said that the people with the red and gold were from g’iffndoor and he said that Ivy was going to look after me sometimes and I really wanted to meet Ivy, so I followed the red and gold but I got lost and I tripped and fell down the stairs. It really hurt and I’m scared and I really want Daddy.” He explained, starting to get teary eyed at the end. She nodded in agreement. The explanation was a little jumbled, but she got the gist.

“OK, Kiddo. Well, we need to go to the hospital wing to get your head checked, but I’m going to make sure your daddy meets us there.” When she got a confirming nod, she turned to the side a little and pulled out her wand. Concentrating, she produced a patronus and sent it to Severus with a message only for his ears. While she had been spending so much time in the library this term, she ran across some books that explained the different uses a patronus could have. With that sent off, she turned back to Simon. “Simon, I’m going to pick you up now. Is that ok?” He looked uncertain for a moment.

“Are you Ivy that Daddy talked about?” She smiled warmly at him. 

“Yeah, kiddo. I’m that Ivy.” he looked at her with what she thought was seriousness, but it looked so much like his father that she almost smiled at him, ruining the moment. He then consented to be picked up. Once he was settled on her hip and she was standing and steady, they set off to the hospital wing. He was quiet for a while and they were halfway to the wing when he asked her a question.

“Will Daddy be mad at me?” That almost made her still, but she kept walking and thought over that answer carefully before answering him. 

“Your Daddy might shout and he might seem mad, but that will only be because he was really scared that you disappeared and he didn’t know where you were. The castle isn’t very safe for a young child and there are lots of places here that even your daddy has to be careful going to. And your daddy doesn’t want you to get hurt or lost.” They were almost to the infirmary now, but she stopped and looked directly into the child’s eyes. “Simon, there is one thing that you must know and always remember. Your daddy loves you. And he’s not always going to understand how to show or tell you that, but that doesn’t mean that he loves you any less. OK?” She waited until he nodded in understanding before she continued walking. Because it was lunch, she managed to avoid just about everyone on the way to the hospital wing. The people she did see, she made sure didn’t see them. They arrived at the hospital wing a minute later and Ivy called out to Madam Pomphrey as soon as they walked in. Though Pomphrey couldn’t see them just yet, her reply was immediate. 

“Miss Potter, what in heaven's name could you have possibly done to yourself now?” Her exasperated reply made Ivy smile, though Simon put his head on her shoulder and started to look shy. Pomphrey spotted them while Ivy was walking up the rows of beds to the empty bed right next to ‘her’ bed. She gasped, surprised. “Miss Potter, just who exactly is this?” Ivy smiled at the matron and turned back to Simon.

“Simon, this is Madam Pomphrey. She might seem a little brisk, but she is very good at healing.” She said all this softly but she dropped into a conspiratorial whisper for a second. “Don’t tell anyone, but she has one of the softest and kindest people you will ever meet once you get to know her. Sh, it’s a secret.” Ivy tried to say, but Simon was giggling now making her smile. After a second, he nodded in confirmation that he would try to keep it a secret so Ivy continued in a more normal volume softly. “She’s going to take a look at your head to make sure everything is ok and help with any pain you might be in. Is that ok, Kiddo?” He nodded shyly into her shoulder. “Ok.” a little louder, she said. “Madam Pomphrey, this is Simon. He is Professor Snape’s son.” She gave Ivy a startled and bewildered look and was about to say something, but Ivy cut her off. “It’s a long story, Madam. I’ve already let Professor Snape know, he should be here any minute now.” She tried to just put him on the bed, but he wouldn’t let go of her, so she sat down with him and managed to shift him so he was sitting next to her but still hanging onto her for comfort. “I found him just a second ago on one of the landings near Gryffindor tower, he said he fell down some stairs. His head hasn’t really stopped bleeding, but his pupils seem fine and he hasn’t seemed disorientated aside from being lost.” Pomphrey had started bustling about, but at Ivy’s medical description, she paused and raised an eyebrow at her. Ivy rolled her eyes. “I do pay some attention when you patch me up, you know.” Pomphrey huffed in amusement and got back to work.

Simon’s head just stopped bleeding when Snape banged into the infirmary looking a little wild eyed with McGonagall hot on his heels. “Where is he? What the hell happened?” Snape half shouted, McGonagall looked like she was trying to calm him down some, but only half heartedly. Pomphrey was about to turn and scold him for yelling in her infirmary when Ivy quickly spoke up.

“I got it. Simon, stay with Madam Pomphrey, I’ll be right back. Then you’ll see your dad.” She didn’t wait for an answer, she quickly ducked out from behind the privacy screen casting a silencing spell behind her. She met him before he got too close to the bed and physically pushed him back. It only worked a little and that was because he wasn’t expecting it. “Lower your god damn voice, Severus, before Pomphrey gives you a hiding for waking up her infirmary.” She said strongly and firmly. Severus was too worked up to really pay attention, though, and yelled at her angrily.

“Get the hell out of my way right now!” Ivy put one hand on his chest as a stop gesture and said lowly and deadly.

“You are not getting within ten feet of that child, Severus, until you calm. The Fuck. Down.” He stared at her and she watched as the panic started to recede from his eyes and logic started to register in his brain. He took a half step back and started to consciously take calming breaths. When it was clear that he was calmer, she crossed her arms and smirked at him. “I told you you would be a good parent.” He gave her an incredulous look.

“How could you possibly say that?! He has been in my custody for less than 24 hours and I’ve already lost him for three hours and he’s made it to the infirmary! And if you weren’t here, I probably would have yelled at him and scared him half to death! I told you I would be terrible at this, how could you possibly think otherwise?” He spoke loudly, but he wasn’t shouting at least now. He was pacing slightly in front of her while gesturing wildly while he spoke. She gave him a soft smile and spoke softly.

“Because you panicked when you saw he wasn’t with you. From my understanding, it is completely normal to panic when your child is harmed or in harm's way. You're telling me that every terrible scenario didn’t run through your head when you noticed he was gone?” He stopped pacing and squared himself looking at her with his arms crossed. She knew she was right and smirked in triumph. “That’s what good parents do, Severus. They panic. It’s a horrible feeling and no one likes it and yeah, some of them get angry because of it. But even if I wasn’t here, all you would have done was yell. Would it have scared him? Yeah, probably, but that doesn’t make you a bad parent. It makes you human.” He gave her a long searching look before he huff-sighed. 

“I think I despise it when you are sensible.” She laughed a little at that.

“Don’t worry, it won't happen often.” He gave a sorta half smile before running a hand through his hair and re-crossing his arms. 

“What exactly did happen? We left breakfast and we started to go to Minerva’s office when he just disappeared. We turned a corner and one minute he was with me the next he wasn’t. Minerva and I have been searching since. If we hadn’t found him by lunch, we were going to inform all of the staff of the situation.” Ivy nodded at his explanation and filled in what she knew.

“I found him on one of the stair landings near the Tower. Apparently you told him about the different houses and the colors associated with them?” She gave him a ‘really?’ look and he shrugged at her.

“What? He wouldn’t go to sleep last night.” She raised an eyebrow at him as well.

“Apparently it was a long night because you also told him I was going to occasionally look after him and that I was in Gryffindor.” It wasn’t very noticeable, but Severus’s cheeks dusted with a light blush at that. “In any case, according to him, he was very curious on meeting me and when you told him that he had to wait he looked for someone wearing red and gold and followed them to the Tower. He got lost on the stairs, though, and fell down some. That’s how he got hurt and where I found him.” Severus closed his eyes and very carefully drew in a breath. Ivy smirked at him again. “Well, at least now there is absolutely no doubt that he is your son.” He opened his eyes and gave her a weary look.

“I thought the doubt disappeared after the third paternity test.” he said blandly. “But what makes you say that?”

“Because only your three and a half year old would remember all the houses and their colors from a bedtime story and be too impatient to wait like he was told.” He groaned at that, making her smirk widen a little evilly. He didn’t get a chance to respond because Pomphrey came out from behind the curtain looking at them expectantly.

“Are you done with your temper tantrum now?” She asked Severus who looked offended at the accusation, but didn’t try to contradict her. “Good. So now maybe you can explain to me why I have a scared three year old in my infirmary.” She said it in her stern ‘you better tell me what I want to know right now’ voice, but Severus got up to ‘scared’ and started moving to the concealed bed concerned. Ivy didn’t deter him this time. She moved out of the way and took down the silencer before he ducked around the curtain. A very excited and relieved cry of “Daddy!” could be heard making them all smile softly. Pomphrey turned to Ivy this time with an expectant look on her face. “Perhaps you would like to explain this to me, Miss Potter?” 

“I’m sorry, Madam, but it is not my tale to tell.” Ivy really was apologetic, but she wasn’t going to cave on this. If Severus wanted to tell anyone how he was suddenly a father, then he was the one that was going to explain it to them. 

No one really noticed, but McGonagall had been to the side watching Ivy and Severus fight with each other over Simon. They were like an old married couple, which McGonagall didn’t really know how to process, leaving her in a cross between shock and indulgent. She thought they made a strange couple, but in a weird way, they also made sense. She had decided not to get in their way as long as they were discreet, though this scene really just strengthened her resolve in that. She watched as Ivy slowly approached the screened off bed that held Simon, then turned to leave the hospital wing. Clearly everyone was ok and Ivy had Severus handled so she might as well go make sure her class for this afternoon was ready.

When Ivy peered around the curtain, the sight before her made her smile softly. Simon was in Severus’s lap talking quietly to him while also holding tightly to his robes. They looked a lot more relaxed now that they have been reunited with each other. Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, Severus looked up making Simon also look up at Ivy. He gave her such a big smile, she knew she was in trouble. In the span of half an hour, she already loved this little boy and knew she would do anything for him. She started talking while she involuntarily stepped closer to the bed. 

“Hey Kiddo, feeling better?” She asked Simon who gave her a very enthusiastic and happy nod while leaning further into Severus. Smiling at his response, she sat down on the bed before continuing. “That’s good. You had us worried, your dad especially.” He frowned at that and looked guilty.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

“We know.” She placated. “But that doesn’t mean that you still did. When your dad asks you to do something or to wait to do something, he usually has a really good reason for asking you to do it. And in this case, he said that you would meet me later today because that was the time he knew both of us would be off and have time to spend with you. This is also a very big castle that can be quite dangerous at times. It would have taken too long to track me down so we could meet and he didn’t want you to go looking for me on your own because of how dangerous it could be.” he looked down in shame. She tried to get him to look at her again before she continued. “I’ve been lost in this place too, so I know how scared you were earlier. So maybe you can listen to your dad and I the next time we tell you not to do something?” He gave a very determined and firm nod that really shouldn’t have been as adorable as it was on the three and a half year old. She smiled warmly at him. “Thank you Simon. Now, your dad needs to go talk to Madame Pomphrey for a second, then we are going to eat lunch but after that, your dad and I need to go back to class for a few hours. You will see us tonight, though.” She tried to be reassuring when she saw how down Simon got at hearing they had to part from him for a while. She looked up at Severus to find him looking at her and Simon with a soft and complicated look that she had a hard time deciphering. Part of it looked encouraging and he looked like he was agreeing with her, so she didn’t look too closely at the rest of his look. 

He nodded at her and started untangling himself from Simon and gently moving him to the bed next to Ivy. “I’ll be right back, Simon.” Severus said, unconsciously kissing his forehead before he left. He was back a few minutes later with their lunch which they ate quietly, just enjoying each other’s company. Simon was understandably upset at them leaving, but understood that it was only for a few hours and they were not leaving him for good. They left the wing in silence together, but Ivy broke it before they parted for their respective classes.

“You're a good father, Severus.” She said again then brushed the back of her hand with his, smiled and walked to her next class. 

Though they didn’t discuss the plan for that evening, Ivy and Severus showed up at the hospital wing at the same time before dinner to pick up Simon. From there they went down to Severus’s quarters and ate dinner there that night and later played with Simon until it was time to put him down for bed. With Simon finally down, the two retreated to the couch to talk. Tiredly and unconsciously, Ivy sat next to Severus on the couch and curled up next to him. Severus noticed, but he didn’t try to fight it and put an arm around her pulling her just a little closer to him. They just sat there, not saying anything, but knew what the other was doing. Ivy was comforting him from his terrifying day and Severus was, for once in his life, or at the very least since Lily, letting someone comfort him. He had clutched at her and silently cried while she just held him. They were very conscious of it this time, but neither protested when they both got ready for bed then climbed into Severus’s bed together. They fell asleep with Ivy’s head on Severus’s bare chest. 

The next few weeks went in a similar routine. Depending on the day, Ivy and Severus would switch off on who dropped off Simon in the morning to the hospital wing where at least one of them would have lunch with him in the afternoons and then they would pick him up before dinner together. Ivy had all but moved into Severus’s quarters where she had slept ever since that first time. Once Simon was down, the evenings were peaceful with Ivy doing homework and Severus with his markings. The weekends were mostly spent with Simon, though Ivy made sure to spend time with Neville and Fleur on occasions. The only deviation to that pattern was the first Saturday Simon was with them, where they had McGonagall watch him while Severus escorted her to her Gringotts’ appointment.

Not sure what to expect, Ivy had read up on some of the goblin’s customs so she wouldn’t be rude to them accidentally. “Good morning Teller Howell, may your accounts flow with gold.” she said warmly to the teller when it was her turn, making many of the goblins turn and look at her in surprise. She clearly shocked the poor teller badly, because it took him several seconds to be able to speak again.

“And may your fortunes flow as well, Lady Potter. What is it that Gringotts can do for you today?” 

“I believe I have an appointment with someone from your legal department. A Mr. Snaptooth? And I was wondering if there was someone I could talk to in regards to my accounts? I’m afraid I know nothing about them and I am terribly curious.” She said politely but was worried that she had offended them by the teller’s sudden whiteness. 

“Am I correct in believing that you have never received any statement in regards to your accounts?” She frowned and seeing her frown had Severus stepping closer to better hear the conversation.

“Statements? No, Teller Howell, I’m afraid you have lost me. I have never received anything of the sort from Gringotts.” The goblin looked like he was about to pass out.

“Never!?” Severus asked incredulously while Ivy shook her head.

“Lady Potter, please come with me.” The teller directed them into a waiting room before he spoke again. “Lord Ragnok will see you momentarily. Someone will come get you and show you the way when it is time.” Howell said before bowing and leaving the room. Ivy turned to Severus confused. 

“What’s going on?” She asked, disturbed by everyone’s reaction.

“Ivy, if you have not been getting your bank statements, that means someone is deliberately intercepting them and keeping you from your birthright. That is treason according to Goblin law and since the bank falls under their laws, they have every right to prosecute. And for it to happen to one of the oldest families has enraged them enough that you are about to talk to the leader of the Goblin nation.” Severus explained to her. She stared at him for several minutes before she freaked out. 

“What!? Bloody hell! Severus, what do I do? I don’t know how to talk to him!” She asked, freaked out. 

“What you do is not freak out. Just talk to him with respect and you will be just fine.” He said not quite soothingly, but with enough grounding that she calmed down almost immediately. Which was good because a moment later another goblin came and escorted them to Lord Ragnok’s office. It was a ways until they reached the office, seeming to be in a deep part of the bank few humans ever saw. They stopped in front of tall, extravagant, heavy-looking, wooden double doors that their goblin escort knocked on, requesting entrance, which he received not a moment later and ushered them into the office. There was no doubt which office they were in, now. The walls seemed to have veins of gold running through them and multiple spiked and sharp weapons were mounted on the walls. The furniture was functional, but the desk was made of heavy wood in an intricate, extravagant, and simple design. And thought the desk and office were amazing to look at, what really caught Ivy and Severus’s eye was the older goblin sitting behind the desk. Though he looked frail from old age, he exuded power and confidence so strongly, there was no mistaking who this goblin was. 

“Lady Potter, Lord Prince.” Ragnok greeted them almost shortly, though Ivy felt more like he just didn’t spend his time catering to human greetings very often than him being short tempered with their presence. 

“Lord Ragnok, may your enemies fall by your blade.” Ivy greeted him back, trying to not sound too cheerful by the notion or nervous because of his presence. Severus took the silent route and just bowed to him, though it was a deep bow that not even a goblin could misinterpret as anything but respectful. Both greetings got them a surprise raised eyebrow out of the older goblin, though he didn’t comment and quickly got down to business. 

“Lady Potter, I have been led to understand that you have never once received a statement from us in regards to your accounts, is that correct?”

“That is correct, Lord Ragnok.” Ivy told him, nodding her head as well. 

“Never? Not even once?” He asked her sharply, which she shook her head vigorously against.

“No, Lord Ragnok. Not even once. I was unaware that bank statements were something that I should even have been getting until less than an hour ago.” Ragnok settled back into his chair, staring at her for some time before replying. 

“Then it would appear Gringotts has made a grave error as your statements are still being received by someone else. There is much to discuss and most of it is sensitive. It might be best if were discussed it behind closed doors.” He told her, pointedly looking at Severus when he said the last sentence. Without thinking about it, she stepped closer to Severus while she replied. 

“If it is all the same to you, I would like Severus to remain. I trust him and value his council which I believe I will need if there is as much to discuss as you say there is.” she didn’t realize just how bold a move that was until she noticed how stiff Severus was beside her and the suddenly blooming, gnarly smile on Ragnok’s face.

“As you wish, Lady Potter. Come, sit. I have your account information right here. I first need from you some blood to confirm your identity. Just slice your palm and let some of the blood drip onto these two parchments. One will show your family tree, confirming your identity, and the other will confirm any houses you may lay claim to.” he explained and she did as she was told, letting Severus heal her hand quickly afterwards. She was fascinated by the family tree, watching as it grew backwards with more and more names. It took several minutes for it to stop growing, but at the sight of her name connecting to James and Lily Potter, Ragnok set it aside and started to focus on other things. He did a double take on the other parchment, though, which immediately caught Ivy and Severus’s attention.

“What is it?” She asked worriedly. Stunned, Ragnok handed over the parchment paper so the two of them could see what was written there.

Name:  
Ivy Lillian Potter

Biological Father:  
James Potter (Deceased)

Biological Mother:  
Lily Potter, nee Evans (Deceased)

Godfathers:  
Sirius Black;  
Remus Lupin;  
Frank Longbottom

Godmothers:  
Alice Longbottom;  
Silvia Masters (Deceased)

Lady of:  
Most Ancient and Most Noble house of Potter,  
Most Ancient and Most Noble house of Warren,  
Most Ancient and Most Noble house of Peverell,  
The Noble house of Flemont,  
The Imperial and Most Royal house of Le Fay,  
The Imperial and Most Royal house of Merlin,  
The Imperial and Most Royal house of Emry,  
The Most Ancient and Most Royal house of Gryffindor,  
The Most Ancient and Most Royal house of Slytherin,  
The Most Ancient and Most Royal house of Hufflepuff,  
The Most Ancient and Most Royal house of Ravenclaw

Gained Titles:  
Lady of Hogwarts,  
Champion of Magic 

Ivy and Severus stared at the page, gaping like fish at it. “Bloody hell.” she whispered, not because she was trying to keep quiet, but because she was in shock, so she spoke softly. 

“Yes, that seems to sum up your situation nicely.” Ragnok agreed. “Let me explain what all of that means.” He started, diving into the nitty-gritty of all of her accounts over the next four hours, not just the Potter accounts. And it really was accounts, as in plural, not just singular. The Potter house had three accounts on their own, which shocked the hell out of her seeing as she thought she only had her trust vault. With the rest of the houses, she owned a combined 47 vaults with a combined 9 Trillion of just Gallons between them which did not include the jewelry, books, furniture, weapons, and armor stored in some of those vaults, nor does it include the combined 15 properties that are also attached to them. And Hogwarts, you mustn't forget the entire castle and all of it’s grounds. 

It turns out, while going through the paperwork, that people were stealing from her, Dumbledore and the Weasleys the main culprits, and over the last thirteen years they had managed to steal almost 1 Trillion gallons from her. Which, now seeing how much she actually had, didn’t seem to mean much, but was still a vast amount of money. Most of those four hours was spent signing documents that cut off anyone access to all of her vaults that was not either herself or Severus as well as signing backlogged paperwork from her 183 companies that needed the owner’s signature for several upgrades over the last thirteen years. Her hand was cramping by the time that was all done and she resolved to find someone to manage those companies so she didn’t have that kind of backlog ever again. 

“Excellent. Now that is all out of the way, Lady Potter, there is something you should be made aware of in regards to the Houses of Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw.” 

“Please, Lord Ragnok, after going through all of that, I beg of you to call me Ivy. I am a little sick of seeing and hearing ‘Lady Potter’ for today.” she told him, smiling at him while shaking out her cramped hand. Ragnok looked almost taken aback at her request, before he inclined his head and replied. 

“Then you must call me Ragnok.” Ivy smiled brightly at him while Severus privately shook his head bemused. Only Ivy would manage to accidentally befriend the most powerful Goblin in Europe. 

“Ragnok it is then. What was it that you said I should know?” Ragnok hesitated. 

“The Houses of Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw have a test of sorts that each heir must go through before they can claim the rights to the names and vaults. You are not the only heir to one of those Houses that has been seen, though you are currently the only known living descendant of all four of them, which gives you the leading power over Hogwarts. You are also the only one that currently has any official claim over these houses. Should you pass the tests, you will be the Lady of all four houses and the owner of Hogwarts.” He paused to let her absorb the information.

“How dangerous are these tests?” Severus inquired, concerned for her well being.

“As far as we can tell, not very. Those that have not succeeded in the past never seem to have any adverse effects to them.” Ragnok tried to reassure, but it wasn’t going very well. 

“You have absolutely no idea what these tests are, do you?” Ivy asked, though she sounded like she was stating a fact.

“No, I do not. All I know is that you will be judged but how or in what manner, none of us know.” He informed her grimly. She nodded her head, though Severus still looked very unsure about everything. 

“Does this have to occur now? Or can she have some time to think about all of this?” Severus asked, desperately trying to gain more time to think through these things.

“As Ivy is only fourteen, she will have until the day of her fifteenth birthday to make her decision on whether or not she wishes to pursue this. After that, the choice will no longer be available to her.” 

“Why only until my fifteenth birthday?” She asked curiously.

“As you are the Lady and head of so many Houses, fifteen was decided by law that an heir could start participating in their Houses’ politics. In a way, it is like emancipation, but you will still need a guardian to live with you, you just can make the decisions for those Houses without the consent of a guardian. You will not be able to represent the Warren, Peverell, or Flemont Houses as they are a strictly patriarchal line until you are married. Then you can represent them in your husband's stead if that is how it was to be chosen between you.” Ragnok warned, which was appreciated by both of them. Part of Ivy wanted to be outraged at the sexism in those lines, though she was still way too dazed by everything else to really feel it. Thought the mention of emancipation did bring her back to the reason they were at Gringotts in the first place.

“Emancipation was actually partially why we are here in the first place.” Ivy started and proceeded to tell Ragnok about the Tournament and about the publicity fiasco that she has had to put up with. He was suitably outraged and was quick to reassure her that he would talk with his legal team to come up with a solution as soon as they could. And after a lengthy goodbye, Severus and Ivy went back to Hogwarts still dazed by the knowledge they had learned that day. 

Ragnok kept his promise and had been sending them (through a secure two way box) biweekly updates on his progress over the last few weeks. So far, it seems like he was almost close to a solution, he just wanted to double check several things first before he presented his findings to them. 

Now it was the early morning of the Yule Ball and both Severus and Ivy woke up to insistent knocking on the door to Severus’s quarters (though if they ever decided to acknowledge what was really going on, they would realize it was their quarters now). They both groaned, not wanting to get up and grumpy that someone was at the door so early on a Saturday during vacation. “I got it the last time, it is your turn to get the door.” Severus grumbled at her, referring to when McGonagall practically banged down the door. Ivy groaned some more, but still disentangled herself from him getting out of bed and heading to answer the door, wand in hand.

“This better be life of death.” She gripped to him and all but stomped to the door, throwing it open to whomever was knocking. “What?” She demanded, not in the mood because of the hour. What she saw on the other side of the door took several minutes to register with her brain before she really understood what she was seeing. In front of her stood a smiling, eager-looking Fleur Delacour. 

“Ivy! I had been skeptical that I might find you here, though I see now that Professor McGonagall was not wrong. Come, we must start getting ready for the ball tonight.” Fleur told her and indicated that she should follow her so they could go get ready. Ivy stood there, looking blankly at her, before she responded. She dragged Fleur into the rooms and shut the door before she exploded on her, not wanting to have this discussion in the hall where people could possibly hear them.

“Fleur. What the fuck!? It is 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday! The Ball isn’t until 8 tonight! I’m not spending that much time just to put on a dress, have you lost your mind!?” She shouted at her, angry now that she was woken up for this. Severus shuffled out of his (their) room, still shirtless and looking sleep mused. He stopped when he noticed Fleur, who’s eyes went very wide at the sight he presented, and quirked his eyebrow at her presence. 

“Miss Delacour.” He greeted, half growling in annoyance because he too was woken up by her this morning. “Is there a reason you are here so bloody early on a Saturday morning?” he asked while he walked in the direction of the kitchen. Ivy stalked after him, needing coffee or at the very least very strong tea to wake up enough to deal with this. Hesitantly, Fleur followed after them, no longer thinking this was a good idea but not wanting to back down from this fight.

“She came to take me to go get ready for the Ball tonight.” Ivy told him as she stormed over to him to take the offered cup of coffee he had poured for her while he sipped his own cup. 

“It is 6:30 in the morning. The Ball is not until 8 tonight.” He retorted deadpan.

“That’s what I said!” Ivy cried, waving her hands about as an emphasis. 

“These things take time.” Fleur told them determinedly and was about to go into detail on why it took so much time when a hesitant, small voice asked.

“Daddy? Ivy?” Severus and Ivy froze, having realized that they forgot to put up charms so he wouldn’t hear them talking. The three of them turned to the doorway to see Simon, sleepy and clutching the stuffed lion Ivy gave him a few days after they met, leaning against the door jam clearly hesitant because of the third person in the room he didn’t know. After a moment, Severus put his cup down and went over to pick up Simon in his arms. He immediately put his head tiredly on Severus’ broad shoulders, almost snuggling into them. Ivy drifted over to them so she could stroke Simon’s head calmingly. 

“Morning Kiddo. Did we wake you with all the noise?” Ivy asked quietly, soothingly, and Simon nodded his little head in agreement. “I’m sorry about the noise. It’s really early to start the day, though. Do you think you could go back to sleep for a few more hours?” 

“Can I stay with you and Daddy?” he asked which made Severus roll his eyes while Simon couldn’t see him. Simon’s current favorite place to sleep was with the both of them, which they only allowed after nightmares or tough nights. They didn’t mind him sleeping with them, but knew that he needed to learn to sleep in his own bed at night. 

“For a few more hours of sleep? I think that is the best idea I have heard all month.” Severus declared to Simon, who smiled widely at the compliment, feeling important and smart now. He shrunk back into Severus’s shoulder a moment later once he remembered there was another person still in the room. 

“Who is that?” he asked them quietly, which reminded them both that Fleur was in the room. Ivy was normally more of a morning person than Snape, but it still depended on how much sleep she had the night before. Looking at her, they both really wanted to laugh at her expression. She looked shocked and her eyes looked like they were about to pop from her eye sockets they were so large.

“That is Fleur, she is a friend of mine. But her surprise early visit has caused a small disagreement which was what you were hearing. Nothing to cause alarm, just a little on the loud side.” Ivy told him, still in a soothing voice but not in a babying one. 

“Why were you disag’eeing?” He asked, still having trouble pronouncing some of his R’s. 

“Because she was trying to cut in on my snuggle time with my boys. Can you believe that? Like I would ever cut down on my snuggles and tickling time with you two.” She punctuated that with tickling Simon’s side a little, making him squeal with laughter in Severus’s arms. Severus rolled his eyes at her and turned his body just enough to stop her from tickling Simon any more.

“Come, Simon, let us go back to sleep.” Snape told him while he turned and started walking back to his (their) bedroom. 

“But-” Simon started to protest which halted Snape and made him glance back to see what he was protesting about. Seeing that Ivy hadn’t moved to follow them, Severus figured this was what he was protesting. 

“I’ll be in in a little bit, Simon. I just need to talk to Fleur a little more.” Ivy told the child reassuringly and with a warm smile. It seemed to mollify him, because he dropped his head back down onto Severus’s shoulder, which he took as a sign to continue out of the room. Once they were gone, Ivy turned back to Fleur, who now just looked mostly shocked, though it also looked like contemplating something. “Look, Fleur.” Ivy started, which gained the Veela’s attention. “It’s just too early for me to leave today. How about I come down to your carriage at ten?”

“No.” Fleur stated, coming out of her shock a little. “I will be back at nine sharp and on our way, we can pause so you can explain what it was that I just saw.” Ivy blinked a little at her, not really sure she liked what this sounded like, but decided that any time later, no matter the price, is better than right that second.

“Okay, I will see you at nine.” She agreed, ushering Fleur back out of the quarters. With a brief goodbye, Ivy went back to bed where Severus and Simon were. Tiredly, she climbed into bed facing the two guys on her side with Simon now bracketed by both adults. Simon was out like a sight, seeming to unconsciously snuggle into both adults and go into a deeper sleep now that Ivy was here. Severus was still awake, though, and asked her quietly how things went with Fleur.

“She’s going to be back at nine. She seems to be really confused by us and wants an explanation.” She replied, which made him snort in return before drifting back into Morpheus's warm embrace for a few more hours.

As promised, Fleur was at the door again at exactly nine, which woke them up again but Ivy didn’t protest the Veela this time. On the way down to the Beauxbatons carriage, Fleur dragged her into an abandoned classroom and, after placing several silencing charms around them, proceeded to interrogate her about her relationship with Professor Snape. Ivy tried to stay calm through it, but she lost her temper half an hour in when Fleur tried to convince her that Snape was taking advantage of her.

“No he is not!” Ivy yelled, completely at her wits end with this conversation. “You don’t understand! Severus Snape is the only one who isn’t trying to take advantage of me in any way! He is kind and compassionate and he cares! He cares if I am hurt or if I am sad. He worries when I’m quiet because he knows why I go quiet and he understands when there are days that I just can’t bring myself to be alright. He has seen me at my very worst and he is still on my side even when everyone else has abandoned me to the wolves. I have been staying in his quarters because all of Hogwarts seems to be against me and I couldn’t continue sleeping in the library. And yes, I help out with his son because he didn’t even know about Simon until a month or so ago and is so in over his head he is scared half to death he is going to screw it all up. 

We are both damaged people that understand each other’s damage and don't judge each other for it. So yes, I sleep in the same bed as he does and neither of us comment on it because it brings us comfort and neither of us have ever had very much of that before. We touch each other because we are so touch starved it is difficult to find someone you are comfortable enough with to actually soothe some of that pain and know that they are not going to cause more pain instead. And yes Fleur, I know that I have fallen into the role of Simon’s mother, but that little boy has never had a caring mother before and I just sort of fell into the role without meaning to. He is so sweet and kind and innocent that if you spend more than two minutes with him, you want to protect him with all you have and if that has turned me into a mother then so be it!  
I am well aware that Severus is twenty years older than me, thank you very much! But our relationship isn’t sexual. Hell! I don’t even know if or what our ‘relationship’ is! And if we never speak about it and I can keep the comfort that we give each other, I think I will be happy for the rest of my life with that!” Ivy finished shouting at Fleur, her chest heaving with emotions and lack of breath. Fleur stood there completely taken aback. 

After a long and silent pause, Fleur decided to respond. “I am sorry, Ivy. I did not know that was how things were between you and I should not have pushed like I did. You are so young, I worry, but I am clearly very wrong on this topic.” She came closer to Ivy, placing one hand on her shoulder and looking deep into Ivy’s eyes. “You should love whomever you love and no one should tell you differently.” she said sincerely. Ivy was about to protest the ‘love’ part, but she just wanted the conversation to end, so she stayed quiet.

The awkward and uncomfortable conversation ended not long after that and the two witches continued to the carriage in companionable silence. Ivy spent the rest of the day in the clutches of the French half-Veela, essentially spending the day in a spa while the elves made sure they were fed throughout this entire process. By the time seven rolled around, it was time for the final step, which was putting on the dress. Ivy had left her dress in Severus’s rooms, so Fleur took her dress and the two of them went back to the (her) rooms to put on their ball gowns. 

They didn’t see Severus or Simon when they entered, but the door to Severus’s personal potions lab was closed, so Ivy figured they were both in there. It took almost a half hour to finish the look, but finally Fleur was satisfied enough to declare they were ready for the Ball. Fleur looked stunning with a flowing, one shoulder, floor length, gray dress that had a beautiful leaf embroidery design on the top with her hair pulled up in a delicate but intricate bun with a minimal amount of makeup on. Ivy thought she pales in comparison, in her off the shoulder, emerald green dress with her hair down in an artful wave. She was wearing contacts with a very natural amount of makeup that Fleur had said brought out her natural beauty. 

When they finally left the bathroom that they used to change into, Severus and Simon were out in the living room. Fleur was in front of Ivy while they walked into the room. “Miss Delacour” Severus greeted when she came in seeming completely unfazed by the part-Veela’s beauty. When he turned to greet Ivy, he did a double take and a dazed look of wonder was suddenly plastered on his face. Ivy’s hands suddenly got clammy with that look and she felt nervous all of a sudden. 

“What do you think? Do I look alright?” Ivy asked, unsure of herself when the silence started to become uncomfortable. Simon, who was dressed in his pajamas, ran up and hugged her fiercely. 

“You look beautiful.” He told her seriously, which made Ivy melt inside by how sweet he was. She knelt down to hug him properly, though she didn’t stay down there for long because of Fleur’s strong disapproving look of her on the floor in her dress. 

“Thank you, Kiddo.” She replied, kissing the top of his head and straightening up. When she looked back to Severus, he seemed to have composed himself again, though he still looked a little dazed.

“You look stunning.” Severus told her, sounding a little breathless. She wasn’t a hundred percent sure why, but she blushed at his complement. Severus seemed to jolt suddenly, like he just remembered something and stalked out of the room just to return a moment later carrying a smallish, flat box. “I know you haven’t any of your family jewels to wear for tonight, so I thought this might look nice.” He abruptly handed the box over to her. Confused, Ivy opened the box to reveal a necklace with a twist of diamonds starting the pendant that ended with an emerald at the end on a beautiful white gold chain. 

Ivy took a sharp breath in while Fleur gasped in surprise. “Severus-” Ivy exclaimed breathlessly, completely surprised. Severus shifted a little uncomfortably before he gently took the box back and took the necklace out of the box. Silently, he gently put the pendant on her, but didn’t step back when he was finished which placed them sharing the same air. Ivy could barely breathe with him so close, feeling almost drunk off of his natural odor. Her heart was jackhammering and her stomach was twisted tightly in excitement, unsure of what will happen next. She noticed that his eyes were blown wide as he stared into hers’ and for a split second they leaned into the space before Severus abruptly took a step back. Ivy saw a look of concern flash across his face, like he was worried he had gone too far, and she abruptly felt loss at the end of the moment. 

“We should be going.” Fleur said, saving them from having to address what just happened. Ivy could have kissed her for that interruption. 

“Yeah, we should.” Ivy quickly agreed. She bent down to hug Simon despite Fleur’s grumbling. “Have a good night, Sweetheart. Be good for your dad, I will see you in the morning. OK?” She asked Simon, waiting for an affirmative before letting him go and standing back up. “I’ll see you later, Severus.” Ivy addressed Snape while she and Fleur headed to the door. Severus just nodded to them while they left.

The Yule Ball was actually sort of fun. Going with Neville had definitely been the right choice, though her feet are killing her with how much he stepped on her toes. As they were just going as friends, Ivy didn’t take it hard at all when Neville wanted to dance with other girls. Frankly, it gave her an excuse to take a break from the crowd of the Ball. It was several hours later, almost midnight, when Ivy decided to step out into the gardens attached to the Hall on one of the occasions Neville was dancing with someone else. She had seen Ron and Hermione get into a fight from across the Hall and was actually really glad she wasn’t in the middle of that drama. She sat on one of the outside benches heavily, carefully taking off the torturous heels Fleur put her in. 

“Dear Merlin, what was Miss Delacour thinking. I’m surprised you’re still walking.” Severus said to her, seeming to come out of nowhere. She jumped a little, reaching for her wand before she knew what she was doing. 

“Fuck Severus, don’t do that.” She scolded him which he at least looked a little chastised for. He came up and sat down next to her and she took a long look at him before she spoke again. “What are you doing here? I thought you weren’t coming because of Simon? And who’s with Simon?” She asked, getting concerned.

“Simon is fast asleep and I have one of the house elves keeping an eye on him right now. And no, I’m not officially here. It’s late and you went with Mr. Longbottom. I came to see if you even had the ability to walk back.” He responded lightly back, easing her worries instantly. She was suddenly warmed by his concern and flushed ever so lightly at it. She was tempted to deny his assumptions, but instead started chuckling.

“Neville is a fantastic friend. But you're right, he still needs some practice with dancing.” She confirms, still chuckling. Severus smiles wryly with her chuckles. They sat quietly for several comfortable minutes before Ivy sighed. “I should tell Neville that I’m leaving.” she tells him, though she doesn’t move to try to stand. Severus nods at her statement, though he doesn’t say anything. They continue to sit in silence until Severus sees Ivy fighting off sleep. He doesn’t say anything, just gets up and picks Ivy up into his arms bridal style. Ivy wants to protest, but she is just so tired she wraps her arms around his neck and rests her head on his shoulder. 

The walk back was quiet, which made Ivy assume that Severus took some secret passageways. Not that Ivy minded, she didn’t want to have people asking questions that she herself didn’t know the answer to. She was quite happy not knowing the answers to those questions right now. When they were back in the (their) rooms, Severus gently settled her on the (their) bed, though she didn’t completely release him which made him sit on the bed next to her. It was only for a moment, though, as he rose again to get something for her swollen and wounded feet. 

He was back seconds later, but it was enough time for her to sit up on the bed. She looked questioning at him when he came in with a rag and some potions. “Essence of Murtlap.” Severus told her, sitting back on the bed and gently tending to her feet. It stung, but she could already feel her feet returning to normal. She sighed and leaned back closing her eyes for just a moment, but that moment was just enough for her to pass out from exhaustion. 

The rest of Christmas break was peaceful for Ivy as she spent it with the Snape family. She made sure to talk to Neville the morning after the dance as she did disappear on him without telling him. He was relieved she was alright, but confessed that he didn’t notice that she was gone until he was leaving to go back to the tower. He had ended up dancing with Luna Lovegood until the early hours of the morning. Ivy laughed, ecstatic that her friend had a wonderful time and had met someone. She had teased him a little about it until he finally confessed that he actually had a date with Luna set during the next Hogsmeade weekend. Ivy’s answering smile to the confession was blinding.

This Christmas was her favorite yet as it was the first Christmas that Simon had ever had. Wanting to make it the best for him, Severus and Ivy went all out which included tree decorating, Christmas cookies making, and snow fights. Ivy decided that for the rest of the break, she was going to enjoy it and not worry about Tournament trying to kill her, Laws preventing her from her rights, or dark Wizards out for her blood.

After the break, however, all of her worries came crashing back with the horrible realization that the second task was a little over a month away and she still had no idea as to what it was. The nights where she would normally be in the dungeon with Severus cleaning cauldrons she now spent trying desperately to figure out the clue the egg held within it. It wasn’t until Cedric Diggory of all people, a week before the second task, cornered her and told her to take a bath with the egg. She walked away from that conversation confused, but willing to try anything at this point.

Her stress over this egg had started to put some strain on her relationship with Severus and Simon. Both were very worried about her and both worried they were losing her as neither spent very much time with her these days. Severus understood, but he didn’t think it was fair to Simon and was starting to get a little angry at Ivy for making him so upset. 

The night Cedric told her to bathe with the egg, Ivy snuck into the prefects bathroom to do just that. Afterwards, Ivy practically ran back to Severus’s quarters under her invisibility cloak high on adrenaline, accomplishment, and fear. When she rounded the last corner that led to Severus’s classroom and his quarters, she almost ran into Severus and Karkaroff having an intense argument. The argument stopped rather abruptly when Severus practically threw Karkaroff against the hall wall. Karkaroff took off after that, almost knocking into Ivy in the process. Severus stood there, taking a deep breath to calm down then turned to go back to his classroom but stopped right before he stepped into the room. 

He turned to look in her direction, then sighed and seemed to slump a little. “Ivy, I know you are there.” he told her tiredly. Ivy all but threw off the invisibility cloak and looked at him. 

“What was that?” She asked, confused and concerned.

“It was nothing.” Severus told her, sounding just as tired as he looked. He has been having a difficult time sleeping without Ivy there most nights this past month as she has been in the library. With Simon’s distress over Ivy and Karkaroff thrown into the mix, he was bloody exhausted. 

“That was not nothing. That was definitely something.” Ivy pressed, frowning at his very obvious lie. She felt hurt too, as she thought they had silently agreed not to lie to each other. 

“Your right, it was something. And you would know that if you were around at all.” Severus snapped back. His nerves were beyond shot right now as his fear that had been clouding his judgement for the last month bled in with his exhaustion. His voice had an edge to it that it hadn’t held while he talked to Ivy in months and he knew the second after he said them that his words were just as razor sharp as he knew they could be. He instantly feels terrible for saying them.

Ivy recoils back like he just slapped her. She stares at him and for a moment Severus sees just how deeply his sharp words hurt her. The moment passed and her eyes were suddenly closed off. Her posture changed as she took more of a guarded stance and her jaw clenched slightly. Severus never realized how much she had relaxed around him until she suddenly put her guard back up. It was like a slap to the face when he realized that she looked like this during the day all day long and only when it was just the two of them or them and Simon that she ever really looked relaxed. 

The fear that he has been feeling the last month wasn’t just about Ivy’s participation in the tournament. He had grown attached to her and a very small part of him that he desperately tried to forget knows that he is falling desperately in love with her. He feared that he was losing Ivy.

Ivy felt like she was just punched in the gut with his words. She knew he could be sharp with his words, most of the time she loved his sharp wit and intellect, but this was different. This felt like it was deliberately sharp in order to hurt and hurt it did. It hurt so much she felt like she might cry. She stared at him seriously hurt before she decided to put her guard up in case he was going to fling anything else hurtful. She realized as she did that this was the first time she had her guard up around him in months. 

“Your right. It’s none of my business.” She replied to him stiffly. Severus shook his head at her.

“No Ivy, I-”

“No, Professor, I shouldn’t have pried.” Ivy insisted, cutting him off. Now it was Severus’s turn to recoil as if he was slapped. She hadn’t called him ‘Professor’ outside of class since before Simon. A lump formed in her throat at the sight of his pained face, so she closed her eyes, swallowing desperately to get rid of it and trying to keep her breathing level. When she opened her eyes again, Severus looked back at her looking lost. She had to swallow again before she tried to speak again. “May I see Simon? I know he is asleep and I won’t wake him. I just wish to see him.” She requested quietly. At this, Severus looked even more of a wreck that he had. 

It was with that request that they both abruptly realized that they were still in the corridor and Severus moved out of the open doorway to let her pass through. She didn’t look at him as she passed nor when he closed the door behind them. She immediately dropped her cloak and bag down on the chair and made a beeline for Simon’s room. Silently, she opened the door and leaned on the door frame watching him sleep peacefully snuggled in bed with his favorite lion that she gave him. It suddenly felt like years since she had seen him and tears started to stream down her cheeks. Even if she managed to survive the tournament, would she ever be able to see Simon again? She wasn’t sure exactly what love was, but she was almost certain that she was in love with Severus as well. Was this it? Was whatever they were over?

She stayed looking at Simon for ten solid minutes, letting her fears about her personal life overwhelm her. When the time was up, she locked all of those fears in a box in her mind and pulled herself together, wiping the tears away in the process. Quietly, she closed the door again and returned back to the living room where Severus was still waiting. Severus was pacing in front of the couch when she walked into the room.

“Ivy.” He said the second he saw her. 

“Please don’t say anything. Thank you for letting me see Simon. Good night, Professor.” Ivy told him, barely looking at him while she talked. She booked it to the door after and while Severus would have stopped her, her use of his title made him stop like she had slapped him. She was gone before he could recover himself enough to stop her.

Ivy avoided Severus for the rest of the week by sleeping in the Library again. She missed Simon fiercely as well as Severus, even if he hurt her. She really wished that she could talk to Severus because she was scared as all hell about the Tournament. She didn’t even want to discuss tactics, she just wanted him to hold her and tell her that everything was going to be alright even if it was a lie. 

Neville, bless him, noticed that she was avoiding Severus and tried to help her as much as he could. The two of them were found in the library at all hours during the week before the tournament, trying to find a way for her to survive the task. By the end of the week, Ivy still had no idea how to breath underwater for an hour nor was she any closer to really knowing how to swim. She really, really, really, wanted to ask Severus to teach her, but that was currently not an option. She really hated the fact that she only got a chance to see Simon twice before the task. Neville had a brilliant idea of using a gillyweed as a way for her to breath underwater the night before the task and told her that he would get some for her in the morning.

Though that was comforting, Ivy still didn’t sleep that night and was still an anxious ball of nerves the following morning. It didn’t help that she didn’t see Neville the entire morning. Fleur had to drag her to where the champions were supposed to go when the time came as she wanted to wait for Neville before she had to go over there. If nothing else, she wanted his familiarity to comfort her as she didn’t have Severus to tell her to get her shit together because he was going to see her at the end of the task. Right when she was really about to panic, Dobby showed up and discreetly gave her the gillyweed. Thank god for house elves.

The second task had somehow ended up almost worse than the first. Ivy almost wanted to applaud whoever was thinking of these tasks as they are doing a fantastic job of really fucking up the champions’ psyches. Ivy almost had a heart attack when she saw Neville at the bottom of the lake. She was glad, though, as she knew that Neville would get Gabrielle out of the lake safely while she took care of the grindylows that were trying to attack them. A few well placed reductos took care of the ones that had physically attacked her. When she surfaced, gasping for air as the gillyweed had worn off at that point, she had grindylow guts in her hair and she belatedly realized that she was in shock. 

She had just killed a creature. She heard it scream when it was hit with the curse. Sure, she had been put in a situation where she didn’t have a choice but to defend herself, but that didn’t make it any better. She suddenly didn’t feel much different than Voldemort for killing those grindylows. The urge to vomit was suddenly so intense, she leaned over to the side of the deck and vomited into the lake she was just pulled out of. She was in so much shock, it took her five minutes to realize that Severus was the one to pull her out of the water. He was the one who wrapped her in a towel and held her while she shook from the trauma she had just lived through. He had been murmuring soothing words to her the entire time and vigorously moving his hands up and down her arms and back in order to try to warm her back up. That’s actually what tipped her off that she was freezing as she was sitting outside in February soaking wet in nothing but a skimpy one piece bathing suit that she got off of Fleur. 

Severus realized the second that she had come out of her shock as she deliberately turned to look at him. He doesn’t say anything, instead he waits for her to start talking as there is very little he could do to comfort her in this situation. 

“I killed them.” She whispered to him, sounding so broken Severus’s heart broke for her. 

“I know.” He told her bluntly, as was his way on a lot of things.

“I’m as bad as Voldemort.” She told him, still in that agenized whisper.

“You are nothing like that man.” Severus told her fiercely, a cold anger suddenly coming over him. “They were attacking you and would have attacked Mr. Longbottom and Miss Delacour had you not stopped them. You were protecting yourself and your friends and you had no choice in the matter. Where he would have killed for the fun of it, you were forced to kill in order to protect your friends.” She looked him in the eye then and Severus could see the tears that she won’t let herself shed. She looked broken in a way that he had never seen her before and he was terrified of what the fall out of this experience would be like for her. 

“That doesn’t make it much better.” she told him hopelessly. He knew there wasn’t anything he could say that would make her feel any better, so he gathered her in his arms and hugged her close. 

They both were sitting on the dock, Severus was leaning against one of the pillars that held the roof up over the deck while Ivy was curled into a little ball against his side with her face buried into his chest. It was quite a sight to come up to and made Madam Pomphrey pause before she continued all the way over to them. While she had been professional and disapproving to her other patients, she gentled herself to these two who were her favorites. She kneeled down next to them and started to rant loudly and sharply about the stupidity of swimming in the Black Lake in February of all months. She was gentle, though, when she touched Ivy’s shoulder and turned her gently so she could take the pepper-up potion she had been forcing down everyone who came out of the lake. She was also very gentle when she examined how bad the grindylow bites and scratches that Ivy was sporting. In a low tone, she told them that Ivy would need to be examined and treated for her wounds soon, but that she was willing to go to her after she cleaned up. Ivy didn’t tell her anything, she just closed her eyes and turned back into Severus, leaving the option up to him. She really didn’t want to go to the infirmary, but she might not have the option of going anywhere else. She didn’t realize how tense she was until she went slack in relief when he told Madam Pomphrey that they would see her in Severus’s quarters later today. 

When Madam Pomphrey left, Ludo Bagman, Barty Crouch, and Dumbledore stepped forward to talk to Ivy. She knew she should have shifted away from Severus, but she just didn’t have the will to do so at that moment. They badgered her on what happened for a while until Severus stopped them with a few choice words about badgering Ivy after the event that she had just gone through. It was sharp enough to make all three men look contrite, and prompted Dumbledore to go talk to the merfolk on what happened in the lake. When they moved away, Ivy saw Neville looking very flustered as Gabrielle and Fluer both showered him with kisses of gratitude for helping Gabrielle out of the water. 

“Severus, can we go now?” She asked him quietly, suddenly wanting to do nothing more than scrub herself until she bled. She thought the answer was going to be no as the scores were yet to be announced, but Severus only gave a small nod and scooped her up into his arms and walked away from everyone. 

“Miss Potter, where are you going? We haven’t given the scores yet.” Bagman told her, sounding surprised and disappointed that she was leaving. Madam Pomphrey was thankfully the one to put a stop to anyone keeping them from leaving, though neither Ivy nor Severus heard what she said to stop even Dumbledore from making a fuss. 

He carried her all the way down to their quarters, never once making any indication that he was going to let her down. Not that she minded. Ivy felt warm and protected in his arms and after the last few days, she reveled in the feeling of them around her. He only put her down when they were in their bathroom, which was so he could start a shower and make sure it was not scalding hot for her. When he turned back to her, he paused, staring at Ivy who took off her towel and was standing there in only her swimsuit. 

“What the devil are you wearing?” Severus asked, incredulously. The swimsuit had most of her back showing, though there wasn’t much fabric left as most of it was in shreds from grindylow claws. Ivy looked down at her swimsuit and grimaced. 

“Fleur lent it to me when I told her I didn’t have one. I guess I owe her a new one now.” Ivy replied, huffing a little in humor. 

“I’ll leave you to take your shower.” Severus told her after a moment, but before he could even take a step, Ivy stopped him.

“Please don’t leave.” She asked, quietly, sounding a lot smaller than she meant to. Severus looked at her, searching her face for several long moments before he slowly nodded. Ivy slumped in relief. “Thank you.” Neither moves at first as the other is waiting for the other to make the first move. Then, slowly, Severus starts to disrobe. Once he is down to his boxers, Ivy starts struggling out of her tattered swimsuit. She struggled with it for a few minutes before Severus took pity on her and carefully helped her out. Ivy was honestly way too tired to feel embarrassed about being completely naked before Severus. Once they were both disrobed (or as disrobed as they were going to get) Severus carefully gathered Ivy into his arms and maneuvered them both into the warm shower. 

Ivy mostly just leaned into Severus and there was a lot of time that the two of them just stood under the spray and just absorbed each other's closeness. It was intimate, but not romantic as Severus was carefully, but clinically, cleaning Ivy and her wounds. They toweled off when they got out. Severus gently picked up Ivy and set her on the counter before he disappeared to get her clothes. While he was gone, he changed out of his wet boxers and put on fresh ones with sleep pants. He came back to Ivy with one of his shirts along with her underwear. He gently helped her into her underwear while she still had her towel wrapped around her, then carefully helped her into the shirt. It was a long henley that fell to her knees, though it was slipping off of her shoulders a little. Severus picked her up bridal style and carried her back to their bed. He gently set her on the bed, then crawled onto his side and spooned her. Ivy clutched his arm that he settled around her and snuggled into him. 

“Where’s Simon?” She asked after several minutes of quiet. 

“He’s with Minerva. She’ll come by with him in a few hours.” He replied. She just nodded and they snuggled in silence once again. Ten minutes later is when Madam Pomphrey came to check on Ivy. Severus got up when they heard the floo chime, though he made sure to grab a t-shirt before he went out to great Madam Pomphrey. She was waiting for him right next to the fireplace.

“Poppy” Severus greeted, though he didn’t continue once he saw the stern look on her face.

“How long have you been in a relationship with one of my students?” She asked him shrewdly. Severus blinked rapidly several times, taken aback. “Tell me you have been safe.” She demanded next, which made him sputter. 

“Poppy, Ivy and I are not in a sexual relationship. She is fourteen for Merlin sake!” He told her incredulously and a little shocked. Pomphrey relaxed a little at that as well as softened considerably. 

“Well, when you two do start, make sure you are safe and have her come to me for a discussion beforehand.” She told him gently. “Now, where is my patient?”

“In the bedroom, laying down. She’s showered already and I made sure to clean out her wounds.” Severus told her a little faintly with a slight blush on his face. Poppy patted him lightly on the arm as she passed him. 

When they entered the bedroom once more, Ivy was sitting on the bed with her legs over the side of it, brushing her damp hair. She looked better now that she no longer had grindylow guts clinging to her. Severus could tell she wasn’t in shock anymore too, which made the spark of life in her eyes glow. He leaned against the door jam while Poppy got closer to her patient. 

“Hello Madam Pomphrey. Thank you for coming here and letting me shower before you did your examination.” Ivy welcomed her warmly and sincerely. 

“I think when you are among the staff, you can call me Poppy, dear. I dare say it would make everyone feel much too strange if you referred to us like you would a teacher now that you are seeing Severus.” Poppy replied, patting her hand gently. Ivy’s cheeks dusted a little pink.

“Madam, Severus and I are not in a sexual relationship.” Ivy looked over at Severus to see him watching them with a slight dusting to his cheeks as well. “We’re not really sure what our relationship is. But neither of us want it to stop and I do not want to think of what will happen to Severus if this became public knowledge. If I was any other student or he any other teacher, it wouldn’t be an issue. Very few know that I stay here but if more knew, I fear that they will not let me stay and that is the last thing that I want.” Ivy looked directly into Poppy’s eyes then, pleading with her. “Please Madam, You can not tell anyone. You have to understand, Severus and Simon, they are my home, my family. I would be nothing without them.” Poppy’s whole face softened.

“You have nothing to fear from me, child. Your secret is safe with me. Now, lets see what damage you have managed to do yourself this time.” She told her exasperatedly, which made Ivy smile slightly at her. 

Several potions, some topical potions, and several diagnostic spells later, Ivy was fixed up almost as good as new. She had Ivy lay down as the potions did their job before she left the bedroom in search for some tea, leaving Severus and Ivy alone once more. Severus came closer to the bed and sat down next to her on the bed. After a few seconds of them just looking at each other, Severus tucks some of her hair behind her ear. When he moved to pull his hand back, Ivy gently took it and snuggled into it slightly. 

“You scared me.” Severus whispered. “I’m so sorry, Ivy. I didn’t mean to drive you away. I’m scared for your safety. I do not like you in this tournament. I snapped at you because I’m scared for your safety and scared that you will leave. You're the closest thing Simon has had to a loving mother and I don’t think I can do any of this without you. I’m terrified of losing you.” he confessed so quietly, Ivy only barely heard him.

“I’m scared too. I hate being in this tournament, you know that. I’m just trying to survive it. I didn’t mean to push you away, I was just trying to find a way to survive. I miss you and Simon. You two don’t need me, though. You are an amazing father, Severus. Simon is lucky to have you.” she whispered to him, keeping the intimacy they created by talking quietly. Severus swallowed hard. Before he got a chance to say more, though, knocking sounded through the quarters to indicate that someone was at the door. Severus tried to persuade Ivy to stay on the bed, but she gave him a look which caused him to roll his eyes while he helped her up onto her feet. 

Ivy stayed by the bedroom doorway while Poppy stayed sitting in the living room drinking her tea and Severus answered the door. Minerva, Neville, and Simon were on the other side of the door. “Daddy!” Simon exclaimed excitedly, wriggling out of Neville’s grasp. Smiling, Severus took him out of Neville’s arms into his own, then let Minerva and Neville in. Simon hugged Severus tightly while Severus did the same thing. 

“Miss Potter, it is good to see you doing better.” Minerva commented, very aware of Poppy and Neville in the room. Ivy was about to reply with a reassurance that she was fine when Simon realized that she was in the room as well.

“Mama!” He shouted loudly, shocking everyone in the room. He wriggled in Severus’ arms and Severus practically dropped him in his shock. Simon then ran to Ivy and Ivy, way too glad to see Simon, moved out of the doorway and dropped to her knees, gathering Simon into her arms right when he launched himself at her. It had been way too long since she had hugged Simon and partially sobbed when she hugged him. 

“Simon! Oh, I’ve missed you so much!” She told him, though it was muffled as her face was in his hair.

“Mama. Don’t want you to go ‘way again.” Simon mumbled to her, making everyone’s eye mist.

“I’m not going anywhere.” She soothed, sounding choked. “I’m so sorry, Simon. I won’t leave like that again, I promise.” She babbled into his hair. She held him like that for a while longer before pulling away a little from Simon and looking around the room to notice Minerva, Neville, and Poppy staring in shocked surprise while Severus looked at them with an expression Ivy thinks might be love. 

“Hi Neville.” She said, still choked up, but choking out a slight laugh. She stood up, not picking up Simon like she wants to, but he clings to her waist anyways, so she doesn’t mind. Neville walks over to her and gives her a hug, making sure to be careful of Simon.

“Thank Merlin you’re alright.” He tells her as he hugs her.

“I’m sorry I’ve been such a terrible friend, Nev.” She tells him when they separate. 

“You’ve been a fine friend, Ivy. You’ve just been a little preoccupied with, you know, not getting killed.” He tells her which makes her chuckle wetly. He leans a little closer to her and whispers. “Did you have to fall in love with the most terrifying professor in the school?” Ivy smiles, laughing a little happier this time.

“He’s not so bad when you get to know him. I think you two would actually get along.” She tells him, but not quietly so Severus stopped his conversation with Minerva and interjected into their conversation.

“Ivy, don’t do that. You’re ruining my reputation.” He tells her pleadingly. She laughs, wiping the tear tracks off her face.

“Don’t worry, you are still the scariest professor in the school, Severus. But do you think you can be yourself long enough to get to know your son’s uncle?” She asks, shocking Neville. Severus gave her a long look before smiling and sighing.

“If you insist.” He tells her. She gives him a watery smile back, then looked down to Simon.

“Have you eaten yet?” she asked him, brushing his hair back as he looks up at her while he continues to cling to her. He shook his head in a negative, making Ivy give a mock gasp. “Well, that’s just not acceptable. Want to help me make some food for everyone?” she asked him, chuckling at his enthusiastic yes. She looks back up and notices Severus was watching her and looked like he was about to protest her cooking, so she quickly turns to Neville. “Nev, could you help us? You can catch me up on what’s been going on with you in the process.” 

“Ivy-” Severus said anyway, concern in his voice.

“I’m fine, Severus.” She interrupted him. “We’re just going to whip something simple up. Poppy, Minerva, you’ll stay, won’t you?” She asked, though she left before they could answer, making it seem more like a demand then a question. Neville looked between her and the three adults quickly before he scrambled after her in the kitchen. 

They ended up just making a simple spaghetti that Neville mostly made with Simon helping and Ivy dictating everything. As asked, Neville told her about his dance with Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley during the Yule Ball and his upcoming date with Hannah Abbott. He also told her how he was doing with classes which led to a discussion on their homework. The entire thing was so normal that Ivy relaxed in a way she didn’t know was tense. 

Poppy and Minerva had stayed for food which made the meal fun and light hearted as the two older women took to teasing Severus much to his embarrassment and her amusement. Neville was still a little wary around Severus, but Ivy was pretty sure that dinner made him have leaps and bounds of progress in relaxing around Severus. Ivy didn’t know she needed this to relax until she woke up with Severus gently picking her up again.

“Mmm, did I fall asleep?” she asked groggily as he picked her up.

“You fell asleep at the table while we were talking.” Severus informed her quietly.

“Hmm.” She replied, turning so she could snuggle into his shoulder. She forced herself awake like she was remembering something. “Simon?” She asked him, though it sounded like only half the question.

“Sshh, I’ve got him. He’s alright, you’re the one who needs to sleep.” He soothed her. Ivy nodded back and collapsed into his arms a little more. She didn’t realize that Poppy, Minerva, and Neville were all watching the interaction nor did she know that they all silently vowed to protect these two for their sake. Ivy fell into sleep in Severus’s arms on their way to the bedroom. She didn’t even wake up when he put her to bed.

Ivy spent the weekend mostly sleeping as her cuts and bruises healed. She elected not to leave Severus’s (Their) quarters during that time, effectively hiding from the world in the process. Simon was practically attached to her during that time, willing to play quietly on the bed while she slept and snuggled with her as she read to him in bed when she was awake. Ivy enjoyed those times and took great pleasure in teaching Simon how to read as they hung out in bed all day. Severus would join them more often than not, though he still had work to do and did spend a considerable amount of time in his private lab brewing. The bubble she had created with Simon and Severus was amazing and she never wanted to leave it.

Monday was brutal.

She found out that due to her double rescue, despite being the last to come up, she won the most points in the second task, putting her firmly tied for first place. The students were not kind to her for that, particularly the Slytherins, who had taken immense pleasure in making her life hell after she was picked. She was healed from her wounds by then, thankfully, as she didn’t want to have to deal with the physical pain as well as the emotional pain that came with that Monday. People in her own house ragged on her, Ron and Hermione being the worst once as they were still convinced that she had put her name in the cup so she could have the spotlight. Neville was her only ally and stuck close to her, even when that made him a target as well. She felt bad about that, but she couldn't have been more grateful to him because of it. 

The next several months were dedicated to learning as many defensive spells that she could which she dragged both Neville and Severus into. Severus was rather impressed by how much of a force of nature she could be when she put her mind to something, though he never told her that. Ivy didn’t sleep much between school and studying, but she made sure to carve out time for Simon, Severus and Neville as she decided that they were more important and the time she spent with them was precious to her. She by no means wanted the two months leading up to the second task to occur again and was now extra conscious about it. It took them until May to realize that she would purposely stop what she was doing to focus on them when they interrupted her studying binges. They had gotten more frequent as it got closer to the third task, which is why it was so noticeable that she was doing it. Neville and Severus both told her that she didn’t have to stop like she was if they were interrupting, but she would just shrug them off and change the subject. They each separately figured out how to spend time with her without stopping her research so she could be prepared and they could still spend time with her. 

Things still got tense once June hit, though Ivy was incredibly grateful that the tournament occurred after her finals. Severus became used to finding Ivy and Neville with their heads in their books, studying for their upcoming finals as Simon played not far from them. By now, it was very obvious what the third task was. The quidditch pitch now had eight feet high hedges where the lawn once was. As no one had made it a secret that the third task was a maze, Ivy didn’t worry about the surprise of what the next task would be. That didn’t mean she still wasn’t tense about it, especially after hearing the news that Barty Crouch was dead, found that way by a student in the forbidden forest. Ivy couldn't imagine what that poor student was going through. 

June 15th, four days before her finals start, Ragnock contacted them with a solution to her emancipation predicament. Two days later found Severus and Ivy once more in Lord Ragnock’s office in Gringotts, sitting across from the goblin as another goblin stood just to the right of Ragnock with a stack of papers with him. 

“Lord Prince, Ivy, I'd like you to meet Snaptooth from our legal offices. He has taken on your case and found a solution to your problem.” Ragnock explained to them. 

“I’ve dug through every law I could find that pertains to your situation and found one loophole that can be exploited. Due to your participation in the Triwizard Tournament, there is one addendum to the contract that states that all participants must be either of age or legally an adult. Now, as you are currently neither but are still in a binding contract in the tournament, that gives you grounds for emancipation. I have the paperwork mostly filled out with me, I just need you to look them over and sign so I may file them.” Snaptooth promptly explained, handing over the paperwork to her without further comment.

“That’s it? I just have to fill this out and I’ll be legally an adult?” she confirmed, feeling overwhelmed by the information.

“Yes.” Snaptooth replied blankly, clearly not understanding why this was difficult to understand. Ivy breathed out sharply, staring at them for a moment completely still. Severus twitched next to her and she suddenly snatched up the papers, diving into them with vigor. In her excitement, she barely read it, instead filled out the blank parts and signed where it said to sign. Before she could hand it back to the goblins, Severus intercepted.

“Mind if I read this first?” He asked her gently. Ivy breathed out a shaky breath, nodding in acceptance and getting up from her chair to pace as he read. Her speed increased minutely the longer it took for him to read it. After five minutes of silence, she burst.

“Well?” She asked, sounding desperate. Severus looked up from the papers and gave her a raised eyebrow. 

“I haven’t finished reading them.” He told her plainly.

“Severus, seriously.” she told him exasperatedly. 

“Ivy, I’m not trying to torture you here. Do you want me to finish reading or would you rather just give the papers over?” He asked her gently, knowing how anxious she was about this. She forced herself to breath and shook her head.

“No, no, I can’t focus on reading them so I need you to read them and explain anything I should know to me later when I can think clearly.” She replied, shaking out her hands and going back to pacing. Ten more minutes passed and Ivy was chewing her nails to the quick at this point. Ragnock and Snaptooth both watched them patiently, neither saying a word. When Severus was clearly done with them, Ivy pounced on him, giving him a very clear look of ‘so?’. He gave her a light smile and handed over the papers back to the goblins. Ivy sagged back into her chair that she had originally sat in. Ragnock took the papers with a smile. He handed them to Snaptooth who immediately left to file them. “So, that’s it? I’m legally free?” Ivy asked shakily.

“That’s it.” Ragnock assured her. “You are now legally responsible for yourself.” 

“So I can live anywhere I want?” She checked. 

“Yes Ivy. You can live anywhere you want to.” Severus replied to her comfortably. Ivy huffed a breath that gradually turned into a relieved laugh. She got back up, still laughing and practically threw herself at Severus. Thankfully, he stood up before she reached him. He laughed a little, picking her up and twirling her around. 

“Come on, let’s go home and let your news settle in.” He told her once he put her down. She nodded, quickly agreeing as she was almost drunk off of relief. They both thanked Ragnok profusely before they flew back to Severus’s quarters. They were greeted by Neville and Simon as Neville had promised he would watch the three-year-old for them while they went to Gringotts. 

“Mama! Daddy!” Simon squealed once he saw them, running over to them and launching himself at his closest parent, which happened to be Severus who picked him up with a practiced spin. 

“Well? How did it go?” Neville asked, anticipation practically pouring off of him. Ivy broke into an excited squeal of her own, still half laughing from relief.

“I’m emancipated!” She practically scratched through her excitement. Neville immediately whooped and started jumping up and down with her in his excitement. Severus laughed at how ridiculous they looked, but didn’t try to stop them, too happy to see Ivy this carefree. It took a while, but eventually the two gryffindors tiredly stopped and fell down onto the sofa, limbs splaying every which way without a care in the world. 

“Congratulations, Ivy. I’m really happy for you.” Neville told her seriously, though he still had a wide smile on his face at the same time. Ivy smiled widely back, thanking him. 

“Not that I want to bring reality back, but don't you two have finals in two days?” Severus asked from where he stood with Simon now playing with his toys near the coffee table where their study material was sturn. Ivy sighed while Neville groaned. 

“What a way to ruin the moment.” Neville complained as Ivy sat up with another sigh.

“It was time for reality to intrude anyway. Severus, do you still have that detention tonight?” She asked him, looking at the clock as it was getting close to detention times. Severus started a little, looking at the clock himself.

“Indeed I do.” He confirmed, grabbing his teacher's robes and hurriedly putting them on.

“Alright. I’ve got Simon.” She assured him as she got up and helped him straighten out his robes.

“Thank you.” He told her once the robes were straightened out. “I’ll see you later.” He said, leaning down and kissing her chastely on the lips, shocking her. Severus made it two steps before his brain caught up with his actions and he froze. He quickly turned around to face her with a pale, shocked face. “Ivy-” He started, but she cut him off.

“Don’t you dare apologize.” She told him sternly as she stalked over to him determinately. She snagged the back of his neck and pulled him into a kiss that was a lot less chaste then his. He was stiff for a moment, then melted into it, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer to him. While she initiated it, Severus quickly took over, deepening the kiss into a proper snog. When they pulled apart, they both were out of breath and staring at each other with surprised awe. Ivy knew the second reality seeped into Severus’s brain as he gently dropped her back onto her heels and stepped away from her, deliberately putting space between them. They continue to stare at each other for a minute before Ivy breaks the silence. “You’re going to be weird about this later, aren’t you.” She asked, resigned. Severus sighed in a way that Ivy has learned she’s not going to like it. “You don’t have to worry about saying anything, Severus. I already know all the reasons why that was a bad idea. Go, you’re going to be late for your own detention.” She tells him a little tiredly, turning away to go back to studying. Severus made a frustrated noise and caught her arm, turning her so he could cup her face and kiss her once more. Ivy gave a surprised gasp which just invited Severus to deepen the kiss as she hung onto his robes for dear life. When they separated, Severus gave her a determined look that She tried to pay attention to through her dazed mind.

“We have to actually talk about this this time.” He told her seriously. 

“As you wish.” She told him quietly, just for the two of them. Severus swallowed thickly, gazing at her for several seconds before he physically tore away from her and left to go to his detention. 

He left her standing there, staring at his retreating back with an unreadable look on her face as too many emotions ran through her. When she eventually moved, it was to turn back to the coffee table to study, though she stopped once she realized that Neville had just witnessed all of that and was staring at her, slack jawed.

“I think we should start with Transfiguration today, what do you think?” She asked him cordially, coming over to their study material and picking out the transfiguration material.

“I think you are bloody insane if you think we aren’t going to talk about what just happened.” Neville replied incredulously instead, actually surprising Ivy a little. It made her happy a moment later as Neville was finally really coming out of his shell, but weary the next moment once his words settled in.

“Nev, I have no idea. Severus and I have never defined our relationship and we like it that way. What you just saw almost never happens and never to that extent. This is new and I have no bloody idea what that means either. And as I have finals and the third task ahead of me within the next week, I’m not going to worry about it and instead I’m going to focus on studying. Can we revisit this conversation after I’m out of a blood thirsty tournament?” She asked him, stress coming through in her voice that she had been trying desperately to hide. Neville, bless him, softened and dropped the entire thing as the two of them got back to studying. Simon didn’t even look up from his playing to notice his parent’s kiss. 

Severus and Ivy never did get a chance to talk about their kiss before the third task as both of them were consumed with end-of-year exams. Instead, they neatly sidestepped it and acted like it never happened in the first place. Ivy was just finishing getting ready for the third task when Severus walked into their room. She finished tying her shoes and stood up as he walked closer to her. She was caught off guard when he wrapped one arm around her waist and cupped the back of her head before kissing her deeply. It was a passionate kiss, but it was far more of a ‘don’t die’ kiss than a sexual kiss. When they pulled apart for air, they rested their brows against each other, breathing each other’s scent. 

“Please be careful.” He pleaded with her. Frowning, she pulled back a little, cupping his face with both of her hands, making him look deep into her eyes.

“I will come back to you.” She promised to him. They continued to stare at each other for several moments before he nodded back and leaned back in to touch their brows again. The gesture was more intimate than Ivy was expecting, though she wasn’t complaining at all. They stayed like that until there was a knock on the door, indicating that it was time for Ivy to leave. They reluctantly separated and emerged from their bedroom. Simon came over to them and Ivy immediately picked him up and hugged tightly as he did the same. The sight of the two of them put an uncomfortable lump in his throat that he had to swallow several times in order to dislodge it. “Be good for your daddy.” Ivy requested, which Simon nodded to.

“Come back soon, Mama.” He told her, not really grasping that she was entering into a task that she might not survive. She just kissed his brow and walked out the door without looking back at either of them. Severus understood that as he knew if she looked back, she would have started crying. Tears were not what was needed right now. 

They proceeded to the maze with everyone else, Severus sitting with Simon in the stands as Ivy made it over to where the champions were. As the cannon went off to indicate that she and Diggory should enter the maze, Ivy looked back at Severus and Simon once before she walked into the green bushes of death.

When Ivy re-appeared back in the clearing with Cedric’s body, she crashed into the ground hard with the corpse. She sobbed as she still clutched the corpse, letting the Cup slip from her hands. She was dimly aware of the screams of horror going on around her at the sight she presented them, her mind still in a whirling panic at what had happened at the graveyard. It took her a while to realize there was someone else there next to Cedric’s body and she manages to glimpse through her tears that it was his father, now wailing in his own grief at the loss of his son. Ivy lets go of him then, realizing that she had completed what she promised she would do for Cedric, she got him home back to his parents, she didn’t leave him at that graveyard with Voldemort. She scooted backwards a ways, still dimly staring at the body through her tears that wouldn’t stop falling. She knew on a dim plane that she was in shock as she couldn’t really hear anything that was going on around her. Her tears weren’t voluntary as they were out of grief, shock, and self loathing at her own stupidity. Voldemort was back because of her.

She got sharply pulled out of her thoughts when Severus kneeled next to her and grasped her upper arms, trying to shake her out of her shock. When she looked at him, the bubble she was in seemed to pop as sound came rushing in, disorientating her for a moment. There were so many screams and cries and shouts, it took her several moments to realize Severus had been calling her name.

“-vy, Ivy. Ivy! Ivy, look at me!” He demanded, starting to get frantic the longer she went without reacting to him.

“He’s back.” She says the only thing she can think with horror filling her voice. “Voldemort’s back.” She turns back to look at Severus, still in a bit of a daze, but Severus places one hand on the side of her cheek and turns her face away from the corpse so they could look at each other’s eyes. She blinks at him a couple of times, feeling more grounded the longer she looks at him. “Severus, he’s back. The cup was a portkey that took us to a graveyard instead of back here. Cedric and I reached the cup at the same time. He was killed when we arrived. They used my blood to resurrect Voldemort’s body. He’s back.” She quickly ran him through the events, not really noticing that Dumbledore or the Minister of Magic had been there when she explained. “Oh Merlin, Cedric’s dead.” she said a little hysterically now. Severus didn’t say anything to her, he just pulled her into his arms and tucked her face into his shoulder before he scooped her up into his arms and stood. She clung to him, crying in earnest as she let her shock and grief out. She still hears Severus tell Dumbledore that he was taking her to the infirmary over her crying. By the time they were back to the castle entrance, she had calmed down from her hysterics, though she still clung to Severus. They didn’t speak as he walked as there wasn’t anything to say. Mad eye Moody stopped them in the hall before they made it to the infirmary.

“Dumbledore said he needed you back at the maze.” Moody informed Severus, who gave the man a narrowed eyed look.

“Dumbledore knows I’m with Potter. I’m sure he could find someone else to help him such as yourself.” Severus replied. 

“I’m alright, you can put me down now.” Ivy quietly told Severus.

“You are far from alright.” He quipped back with a frown, but grudgingly set her back on her feet. Ivy sways into him for a moment, then takes a step back.

“Go, I can make it to the infirmary by myself.” Ivy told him with a gentle push. When he continued to hesitate, Moody stepped in.

“I’ll make sure she gets there.” Moody gruffly promised. Ivy felt uneasy at that promise, but made sure not to let that show to Severus and continued to shoo him away. Eventually, he did leave, which prompted Ivy and Moody to turn and walk in the direction of the infirmary. Or at least, that was where they were supposed to be going. After they turned down the second hall, Ivy stopped, knowing they weren’t going to the infirmary any more.

“So who are you really?” She asked outright.

“What was that, girl?” he asked her sharply, whirling around to look at her.

“I don’t think you are Alastor ‘Mad eye’ Moody. If you were, you would have insisted on doing whatever Dumbledore asked Professor Snape to do because you would have been too paranoid to trust him.” Ivy tells him, fingering her wand as she says that. At his slight surprised look, she explained. “Yeah, I did my homework on you. Things didn’t really click until just now, though. You aren’t really Moody, so who are you?”

“Well would you look at that? Looks like itty bitty Potter has got some brains after all.” Moody said with a chuckle. “Thank Merlin it kicked in after you raised the Dark Lord. Or else my plan would have been ruined.” He tells her, dropping the professor act all together. “As it stands, you executed it all perfectly.” He purred at her, then very deliberately his wand at her, making her grip her wand tightly in response. “Can you imagine the praise I will receive when word gets out that I dispatched you for him? He will be immensely pleased.” He was just about to say an incantation when he was blasted backwards, hitting a door which bursted open and throwing him into the room right into a chair in the process. Ivy turned to see who had casted the spell to find Severus, Minerva, and Dumbledore rushing up to her, Dumbledore holding fake Moody’s wand.

“Are you alright?” Severus asked quietly as he stopped next to her while Minerva and Dumbledore rushed into the room holding the fake Moody.

“He’s not really Moody. He tricked the Goblet to accept me as a fourth champion and he’s the reason Cedric is dead.” Ivy told him instead of answering his question. Saying it out loud made it all that much more real and anger now coursed through Ivy. “He’s the reason Voldemort has a body now and the reason I’ve been stuck in this hell of a tournament.” She continued, staring a little into the space. She sharply looks back at a worried Severus when she says. “I’m going to kill him.” She turns around and starts to march into the room that has him in it, but is stopped by Severus, who places an arm around her waist, pulling her back to him.

“No, you are not.” He tells her, seriously. 

“Yes I am.” She growls, though she doesn’t try to get out of his grip.

“Ivy, he’s not worth it. Once you take a life, you lose a part of yourself that you can never get back. You would be stooping to his level and you are so much more than that.” Severus whispers to her. “Please, don’t stoop to his level. He’s not worth it.” After what seems like an exorbitant amount of time, Ivy finally promises that she won’t kill him. Satisfied, he let her go and the two of them walk in just as the fake Moody transforms back into whoever he is as the polyjuice potion wears off. 

“I believe we know who has been stealing from your stores, Severus.” Dumbledore comments as they watch. 

“You didn’t tell me someone has been stealing from your potion stores.” Ivy comments to Severus, only turning her head to the side a little as he still stood closely behind her. 

“You were a little preoccupied at the time, dear.” He distractedly replies to her. The both of them turn back to the sitting man who has finished transforming by now.

“Barty Crouch Jr.” Dumbledore identifies, then quickly tells Minerva to go inform Azkaban that they are missing a prisoner. 

“I’ll be welcomed back as a hero!” Barty Jr. crows. White hot anger courses through Ivy at that and she takes a step closer to him. 

“Bombarda!” She shows, successfully blasting off his left leg, making him cry out in pure agony. 

“Ivy!” Severus exclaimed, wrapping one arm around her to pull her flush against his chest while the other gently takes her wand out of her hand.

“I promised I wouldn’t kill him.” Ivy replies in a dead voice as she stares at the damage she inflicted. “He’s the reason Voldemort is back. He’s the reason Cedric is dead. He’s the reason I’ve spent this year in a tournament designed to kill the contestants. He’s getting off easy.”

No one can really argue with that. 

When Minerva rushed back in, Severus handed her two potions and instructed her how to administer them carefully. One stopped the bleeding so he wouldn’t bleed out until he could get proper medical help and the other was a truth serum that got them the information on where the real Moody was. All the while, Severus held onto Ivy and kept her against him the entire time. Neither really noticed how that might look to others. Pomphrey was called and arrived about the same time the aurors showed up along with several healers from Saint Mungos. She patched up the prisoner enough where he wouldn’t die while the healers took the actual Mad eye Moody back to the hospital and let the aurors take him off once she was done. Once Crouch Jr. was taken away, she rounded on Ivy, giving her a stern look. 

“Now what do you think you are doing? Really Severus, I expect these things from Ivy, but I thought you knew better than that. She should be up in the infirmary.” Poppy scolds them.

“We were on our way to the infirmary when we were rudely sidetracked by Barty Crouch Jr. I’m on my way there now.” Ivy promised, already turning her body towards the door. She couldn’t take a step, though, because Severus was still holding onto her. Quietly, he handed her back her wand, which she tucked away as he tucked his away as well. Then, he picked her back up into his arms once more, much to her surprise. “I can walk, you know.” she grumbled at him, but didn’t fight him, instead she settled down and held onto him tightly as he walked, Poppy right next to them the whole way. They were almost to the infirmary when what had happened really crashed into Ivy. “Put me down. I’m going to be sick.” she quickly tells Severus, who obeyed her instantly. A bucket was shoved in front of her face right when she began to hurl. It’s a few minutes before she stopped gagging, slumping against the closest wall with her back to it when she was done as she had ended up on her knees, hucking. She pulled her knees up a little as she tried to breathe, noticing that Severus was crouched down next to her and had been holding her hair back as she vomited. Poppy vanished the vomit bucket and looked like she was about to push Severus away from her to check on her herself.

“It’s over.” Severus told her quietly and while that may have confused most, Ivy knew exactly what he meant. 

“Is it?” She asked in a depressingly small voice. “I blessed off Crouch Jr.’s leg and the Dark Lord is back. Cedric’s death won’t stop playing over and over in my mind. If you hadn’t stopped me then I would have killed Crouch Jr. and then I really would be exactly like Voldemort-” She told him, progressively talking faster, though he cut her off when she started to compare herself to Voldemort.

“You are nothing like Voldemort, you really must stop thinking that.” He tells her strongly, wincing a little as his arm burns even while he says the name. “He would never be this disturbed by his actions. He kills without a second thought and he tortures without remorse. You are nothing like him, Ivy.”

“But what if I become like him?” she asked him, tears threatening to fall once more. Severus cupped her face with both hands, leaning in a little more to do so.

“You never will be. Because you are kind and caring and compassionate and you have people who will remind you of that. You are the only real mother Simon’s ever known and that is because you love him. The Dark Lord doesn’t know how to love. I’m not actually sure he knows how to. And if you are truly that worried about this, then I would like to remind you that you have me.” He tells her seriously. “I’ll pull you back from the edge when you don’t realize you are there. You aren’t alone, Ivy.”

“You promise?” Ivy asked in a terrified whisper. “You promise to pull me back when I can’t, like you did earlier?” 

“I’ll make it a vow if you want.” He tells her seriously, making her release a relieved chuckle.

“No, no that is more than enough for me.” She tells him seriously, but with a small smile. 

“Come, let’s get you into the infirmary before Poppy becomes any more annoyed with us.” Severus commented, making her give another chuckle that strengthened at the stern look Poppy was giving Severus. 

Severus didn’t pick her up this time, though he did still wrap an arm around her waist and walked her to ‘her’ bed. He stepped back, though he didn’t leave as Poppy started her diagnosis. He sat next to her on the bed as Poppy treated her arm, which was where he was when a house elf popped in and informed Severus that Dumbledore was summoning him for a meeting. He looked back at her with a conflicting look, which she smiled at.

“Go, I’ll be alright.” Ivy tells him. He gives her a long look before reluctantly telling the house elf he would be right there and stood up. 

“I’ll be back shortly.” He promised, kissing her brow tenderly before sweeping out of the room. Ivy smiled a little amusedly as he left, knowing he made his robes billow on purpose as she had seen him not do so on many occasions. She turned back to Poppy to find the matron was giving her a knowing smile. 

“So, is there anything you want to discuss while you are here?” Poppy asked her, mischief sparkling in her eyes. “Because there are different types of birth control and protection.”

“Oh for the love of Merlin! Poppy! We are not having sex!” Ivy exclaims quietly, her cheeks immediately flushing. Poppy laughs at the reaction and finishes up dressing her arm. Ivy looks around the infirmary once, before her curiosity makes her cave. If anything, this conversation will take her mind off of everything that has happened in the last two hours. “Alright, now you’ve made me curious. Please regale me with your wisdom on birth control and protection.” Poppy actually brightens with a slight evil look in her eye, gladly sitting down next to Ivy and regaling her with all the options she has. By the time Neville came in with Simon, Poppy had thankfully been done for the last five minutes, though Ivy’s cheeks were still a little red from embarrassment. 

“Mama!” Simon called, letting go of Neville’s hand and running to Ivy’s bed. 

“Simon.” Ivy said, relieved to see him, helping him up on the bed so she could properly hug him to her.

“I missed you mama.”

“I missed you too, kiddo.” She tells him, practically clutching him to her. She looks up when Neville finally reached her bed. She gave him a thankful smile. “Thanks for watching him, Neville.”

“It’s not a problem, you know I don’t mind watching him.” Neville tells her dismissively, gingerly perching on her bed where her feet are. “Where’s Professor Snape? I thought he would be glued to your side after everything tonight.” He asked her, curious and a little concerned. 

“Dumbledore called him away. He’ll be back when he can be.” Ivy replied, adjusting Simon so he was sitting in her lap while his back was against her chest. 

“I should warn you, most of the Weasleys and Snuffles are outside right now. They want to check up on you. Do you want me to stall them until Professor Snape is here?” 

“As much as I would like Severus to be here for this, I don’t think he’s going to be out of his meeting anytime soon.” Ivy tells him with a sigh. “Will you stay?” She asked him in a pleading tone. 

“You want me too?” Neville tried to confirm, sounding very surprised. 

“Nev, you’re my closest friend and the closest thing I’m getting to a brother. Yeah I want you to stay. I’d feel a lot less like I was thrown to the wolves if you did.” Ivy tells him, Simon looking up at her with a goofy smile which made her smile in return, tickling him a little in the process to make him laugh. 

“Yeah, alright. I’ll stay.” Neville tells her, making her look back at him with a big smile.

“Thank you, Nev. You don’t know how much I appreciate this.” she tells him seriously.

“Don’t thank me yet.” Neville warns her, then sighs. “I'll just go let them in then, shall I?” he asked rhetorically, already walking away from her bed back to the infirmary doors to let her visitors in. A minute later, there was a burst of noise that you could tell was a group of people trying to be quiet as they entered the infirmary. Ivy sighed and braced herself right when Neville re-apered with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Snuffles hot on his heels. 

“Of my goodness, we were so worried about you!” Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, coming closer to her, though she pulled back at the last second from pulling Ivy into a hug when she noticed Simon in Ivy’s lap. Snuffles immediately jumped onto her bed and excitedly started licking her face, not realizing he was close to stepping on Simon.

“Snuffles, no!” Neville scolded, taking the dog by the scruff of his neck and quickly pulling him back and off the bed, which was really only possible because of how startled the dog was. 

“Thanks Nev.” Ivy told him, distractedly as she looked over a frightened Simon. “Are you alright, sweetheart? Did the big dog frighten you?” She asked the toddler, who nodded yes to both questions. Ivy pulled him tighter to her chest, which he turned into and burrowed into to hide. “Sh sh, you’re safe. There is nothing to be scared of, kiddo. I’m here. The doggy was just excited to see me, he didn’t see you or else he wouldn’t have almost trampled you.” Ivy told Simon, gently starting to rock him so he calmed back down. “Isn’t that right, Snuffles?” Ivy asked with a pointed look at the dog, who looked dumbstruck at the sight she was presenting with Simon. He whined at her and gently started to sniff at Simon, who turned a little out of Ivy to look at the dog now. Playfully, Snuffles licked Simon’s cloth covered leg, which still got a giggle out of the toddler. He curled a little more out of Ivy and reached out to the dog, who licked his hands before nuzzling into those hands as well. The excited laugh that came from Simon made Ivy relax a little and let her start paying attention to the other people near her bed while she kept an eye on Simon playing with Snuffles. Fred and George Weasley stood behind their parents, all of them looking very surprised at the sight of Simon. 

“So it is true.” They spoke together.

“We thought it was-” Fred started with George ending. “Just a rumor.” 

“Which rumor are you talking about?” Ivy asked them, curiously.

“That you adopted Professor Snape’s son.” They replied together.

“Oh that’s just preposterous.” Mrs. Weasley scolded her boys. “Ivy is much too young to do any such thing.”

“I might be too young legally, Mrs. Weasley, but Simon is my son by heart. Fred and George are not wrong.” Ivy corrected, once more distracted by Simon’s noise of distress as Snuffles had walked backwards away from the bed at the news and looked like he was about to growl. A moment later, Sirius Black stood where Snuffles once did, making the Weasleys jump. “If you so much as say one word against my son or his father, I will not hesitate to blast you across this room, Sirius Black.” Ivy told him darkly before Sirius could say anything. 

“But Ivy!” He exclaimed, almost outraged.

“No!” Ivy shouted back. “You don’t get to comment on my choice of men or who I adopt. You should know by now that I am a good judge of character and leave it at that.” Right then, Severus rounds the corner and sees the entire scene. He abruptly stops, though takes several slow steps so he was standing at the end of her bed to look at Ivy and Simon.

“Daddy!” Simon said excitedly, climbing down the bed and standing on it so Severus would pick him up, which he quickly did so he wasn’t standing on a bed for long. Severus unconsciously held Simon close, quickly checking him over before looking at Ivy. 

“You alright?” He asked her seriously, wondering if he needed to take any action. Ivy let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding at the sight of him.

“I’m fine, Severus. Sirius and the Weasleys were just checking up on me.” Ivy tells him reassuringly. She sees him notice Neville hovering by her shoulder and watches as he relaxes his posture a little at the sight. 

“Thank you for being here, Neville. And for watching Simon earlier.” Severus tells him sincerely, making Neville get a little flustered by the compliment. 

“Ivy’s the closest thing to a sister I have and you know I like watching my nephew. It’s not a problem.” he dismissed, which actually managed to crack a smile on Severus’s face. 

“And you are okay with this!?” Sirius exclaimed at Neville. 

“Black.” Severus almost growled, rounding on the ex-convict. “For Ivy’s sake, I will tolerate you, but I will not tolerate any badmouthing of my son or Ivy and I’s relationship.” He warned. 

“She’s fourteen, for Merlin’s sake! You’re old enough to be her father!” Sirius shouted back.

“Sirius Black, don’t you dare swear in front of my three-and-a-half-year-old.” Ivy told him sternly, standing up from the bed as she did so. “Severus and I know exactly how old we are. We also know how weird and unconventional this relationship is. We are also not having sex. I know you still think of me as that little baby Lily and James brought home, but I haven’t been a child in a very long time, Sirius. Heck, I just finished participating in the most deadly wizarding game there is. I know it’s weird, but Severus and I work and I love Simon like he was my own son.” Ivy told him completely seriously. “Sirius, you are my godfather and the closest thing I have left to a father figure and I love you. I do. But if you want any part in my life, you need to go calm down and accept that Severus and Simon are now permanently in my life whether you like it or not.” 

Sirius stared at her for several long, uncomfortable minutes before slowly nodding. “I do think I need to go think on this. Feel better, Ivy. I love you.” He tells her, morphing back into a black dog and bounding out of the infirmary.

“Love you too.” Ivy said quietly after him. Now that he had left, she turned back to the rest of the people who were there. Severus had put Simon down, though Simon just clutched at his pant leg now that he was standing. Ivy involuntarily swayed, the potions starting to really kick in now that she wasn’t so worked up. Severus caught her before Neville even knew something was wrong.

“Poppy’s going to have my head for letting you out of bed.” Severus tells her as he helps her back into bed.

“You didn’t let me do anything, I did it all on my own, thank you very much.” Ivy replied cheekily, making Severus chuckle. 

“Not to be rude, but are you sure, dear?” Mrs. Weasley asked tentatively, making them turn and look at her. 

“Molly, really.” Mr. Weasley scolded. “I think the girl quite knows her own mind, don’t you?” He tells her before looking at Ivy and Severus. “I wish you all the luck in the world.” He tells them sincerely. “Ivy, I’m very glad to see you are alright. I think it’s time we got going, though. If you would excuse us.” He tells her politely, turning and ushering his sons and wife out of the infirmary.

“Thank you, Mr. Weasley.” Ivy politely replies as they leave. She turns back to Severus once they have left the infirmary, only to find him with a troubled expression on his face. “What’s wrong?” she immediately asked him. Severus looked at her for several moments before sighing and sitting on the bed facing her. He turns to Neville, though.

“Neville, would you mind taking Simon down that way while I have a word with Ivy?” He asked politely. Neville drew his eyebrows together in confusion, but still did as requested. Once the two of them were sufficiently far away, Severus turned back to Ivy and dropped his walls for her to see exactly what he was feeling in his eyes. She knew immediately what the meeting he had with Dumbledore was about and sat up a little straighter. He wanted Severus to go back in as a spy.

“No.” She demanded seriously. “No, absolutely not! He can’t ask you of that. Not now!” she said loudly, almost shouting in her vehemence against this. 

“Ivy, we don’t have a choice. Now that he’s back, we need to know what he is planning. We need someone on the inside and my cover was never blown from the first war.” Severus tells her urgently, almost desperate for her to understand. 

“I don’t care! You can’t go, what about Simon? What about this, us?” She asked while she gestured between them. “If he finds out, you are dead.”

“It’s a risk I’m just going to have to take.” Severus tells her gently. “I’m the logical choice, you know that.” 

“Just because I know that, doesn’t mean I want you to go!” she tells him emphatically, tears starting to well up in her eyes. Severus gently cups her cheek with one hand and leans in a little more. “You have to go now, don’t you?” she asked in a broken voice.

“The longer I wait the less he will believe I’m on his side.” Severus tells her in a whisper.

“Promise me you will come home.” She begged him, clutching onto his robes now, pulling him a little closer.

“You and Simon are my home.” He confessed. “I’ll fight as much as I can to come home. I promise you that.” With a sob in her throat, she pulled him into a deep and desperate kiss, very reminiscent of their last kiss, but this one was much more intense as Ivy was truly scared about this. When they pulled apart, Severus immediately got up and walked away from her bed, walking back to where Simon was. Ivy watched as he said goodbye to his son and briefly talked to Neville, which Ivy assumed was to look after them while he wasn’t there. As he walked back, he slowed his steps as he walked past her bed, practically drinking in the sight of her. Ivy pushed the sob back until after he left the infirmary, drinking in the sight of him for as long as she could. Once she knew he was gone, she broke down in sobs, her fear for his safely overwhelming her. 

It was then she realized she was completely sure she was in love with Severus Snape. 

She had been on the fence about it for a while now, not really sure if she was or not, but watching him leave made her realize that she really was in love with him. 

She sort of hated the fact that she fell in love with a spy.


End file.
